When a murder occurs in a small town in Upstate New York, retired police detective Graham Sanderson is drawn back into the vortex of violence and deception, facing a case that demands a terrible personal reckoning.

“If you’re reader enough to handle the strong stuff off the top shelf, this is for you.” – Peter Blauner, author of Picture in the Sand

Graham Sanderson thought he’d left it all behind. His years as a Washington, DC, homicide detective, his tragically dead wife, pain, violence. Taking over his father’s house in the remote Finger Lakes region of rural New York, and looking after his shut-in brother, Tommy, seemed like a respite. That is, until the first body is found. 

The chief of the town’s small police jurisdiction, who is also a family friend, asks for Graham’s assistance. Graham’s instincts immediately kick in and he soon discovers there’s more to the area—the people, its brutally quiet, sophisticated hierarchies—than he or his family ever knew. 

David Swinson's latest novel is a soulful, rural noir story about belief: the extremities to which it pushes a community, the fear it instills in the hearts of adherents and doubters alike, and need for it nevertheless. As Graham delves deeper into the strange and then stranger circumstances of the murders, his own beliefs become challenged. What do you finally stand for when you’ve got nothing left to lose?