Amid ancient redwoods and sun-dappled reeds, the Perdido River runs
clear and cold from the mountains of Soledad County to the blue Pacific.
A wildlife refuge and a pristine recreational area, the river brings
tourists to the old lumber town of Cape Perdido...and flows through the
memories and hearts of the rugged people who have settled there since
the Gold Rush days.
Now that is about to change. An out-of-state corporation wants to pump
the river nearly dry and float the water to southern California's
thirsty cities in huge rubber rafts. With lobbyists, lawyers, and dirty
tricks, the company intends to get what it wants--any way it can.
Against this corporate Goliath, a community protest group and four
unusual individuals are drawing a line in the sand. Flying in from New
York City, ecologist Jessie Domingo hopes to grab headlines for her
cause. Environmentalist Joseph Openshaw has come back to the home, and
the secrets, he left behind decades ago. His former lover, local
restaurateur Steph Pace, fears both the emotions and the ghosts arriving
to haunt her. And old man Timothy McNear, owner of the defunct mill that
once employed most of the town, silently broods about the sins he has
hidden for too long.
But no one envisions what will happen when the crack of a sniper's
bullet sets off a chain of desperate acts. As the peace of this small
town is shattered, murder stains Cape Perdido, and one by one, those who
stand tall for a cause may be swept away by the current of a town's ugly
truths--and a killer's revenge.
