Just weeks from retirement, Sheriff Les contends with the ravages of crystal meth and his own duplicity in his small Appalachian town. A park ranger with a harrowing past, Becky finds solace amid the lyrical beauty of this patch of North Carolina. In this novel by the author of Serena, they are drawn together by a reverence for the natural world. When an elderly local is accused of poisoning a trout stream, Les and Becky are forced to navigate disillusionment and betrayal, testing their tentative bond.