The latest Joe Pickett installment begins not long after the events of Endangered, which left Pickett and his best friend, Nate, separated, out of touch, and lucky to be alive. Nate is living off the grid entirely, relying on survival skills as an outdoorsman, and his ability hide his movements. However, a secretive government agency finds and blackmails him into locating a rogue journalist, who has gone off the grid too, but in a way that could lead to bloodshed.

Pickett’s daughter, Sheridan, receives an invitation to join a nighttime, wilderness gathering with a group of political activist strangers. All she knows is that they are “passionate” about their cause. Curious, Sheridan agrees to go. It’s a decision that will place her directly in the middle of danger.

While Joe Pickett is conducting a series of unrelated investigations, he soon finds himself in Wyoming’s Red Desert. Unfortunately for him, he’s also about to stumble across a diabolical plan, and it will leave him stranded. Even if he makes it out alive, he may be too late to save his daughter and his friend.

C.J. Box is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen Joe Pickett novels. He has won the Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, all for the Pickett novels.  He has also won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for his first standalone, Blue Heaven. A Wyoming native, Box has worked on a ranch and as a newspaper reporter and editor. He lives outside Cheyenne, WY with his family.