"Florio's flawed, complex, compelling heroine faces challenges that are both gut-wrenchingly difficult and all too common today...Far above the crowd."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Grief has nearly consumed journalist Lola Wicks, but her latest assignment leads to a darkness she may never escape.

Lola Wicks is in bad shape—a family tragedy has nearly broken her in a way that her years reporting from war zones never did. Her friends, alarmed by signs that Lola is in the grip of a destructive addiction, hope that a freelance assignment will get her back on her feet. Only the threat of having her child removed persuades Lola to head to Salt Lake City to work on a puff piece about overseas adoptions.

But the assignment takes a dark turn when the teenager at the center of her story lands in jail facing a murder charge. Setting out to prove the youth's innocence takes Lola to her own dark place, and she's not sure if she'll ever be able to find her way back.

Praise for the Lola Wicks Mysteries:

"Compelling, realistically flawed characters and a timely story line...make this one of Florio's hardest-hitting mysteries yet."—Library Journal (starred review)

"A gutsy series."—The New York Times

"Florio captures the culture and poverty on reservations still suffering from greed and mismanagement in a ripped-from-the-headlines story with a shocking ending."—Kirkus Reviews