In the newest entry in Dana Stabenow's New York Times bestselling Kate Shugak series, Kate and the rest of the Park rats are stunned by the death of Old Sam, Kate's eighty-seven-year-old uncle and foster father. In his will, he leaves almost everything to Kate, including a homestead deep in gold mining country that no one knew he had and a letter that reads simply, 'Find my father.' Easier said than done, since Sam's father is something of a mystery: an outsider who disappeared shortly after learning about Sam's existence, he took with him a priceless tribal artifact, a Russian icon. During the first three days of Kate's search, she gets shot at, whacked in the head, and run off the road in deep snow and left for dead. Interspersed with flashbacks from Sam's fascinating life, including scenes from major events in Alaskan history, Kate does her best to fulfil Sam's last wish - as various people follow her every move, in search of the icon, Old Sam's gold, or possibly some other secret remnant of his long, mysterious life.