In Alaska, somebody disappears every day. Hunters who head into the wilderness, fishermen who brave the great rivers, tourists who attempt to do both. In Aleut, detective Kate Shugak's park, people have been falling off the grid quite a bit lately. And as she and state trooper Jim Chopin are about to realize, it's got something to do with the recent discovery of the world's second-largest gold mine in their very own backyard. A hostile environment activist organisation has embraced Alaska's Suulutaq Mine as its reason for being, attracting more attention than many of the locals can tolerate. So it's almost a relief when Kate finally finds a body - this, more than politics, she can handle. Until the identity of the body vanishes too. Now it's up to Kate and Jim to dig deeper into the mining controversy and find the truth about what's going on in her homeland. Even if that means facing down the enemy who will kill to keep certain secrets buried.