Wise-cracking writer Sam Larkin moves back home to Desert Rock after her mother's death-and immediately regrets it. She longs to return to the big city, far away from the brutal heat, her bickering siblings, and her mother's ghost. Instead, when the owner of the controversial wind farm she is researching turns up dead, Sam finds herself at the frontline of a war between environmentalists, developers, and the victim's dysfunctional family. Never one to let a wrong go un-righted, Sam pursues the killer and comes face to face with pure evil . . . and risks becoming the next victim.

When Desert Rock's mayor volunteers the town to be a radioactive waste dump, tempers ignite. Then protestor Pete Castillo disappears and his sister Gabby cries murder. Writer and amateur sleuth Sam Larkin gets pulled into the turmoil by her best friend Eddie, who convinces her to investigate on behalf of Gabby, who just happens to be his ex. As Sam reluctantly works the case, she confronts suspects whose toxic relationships reveal dangerous ideas about love. Before long, Sam asks one too many questions and finds herself in the crosshairs.