The work of a true anthropologist brought to life in a thrilling fiction. The summer is sweltering in Charlotte, North Carolina. Just as Tempe Brennan is about to escape the heat for a well-deserved vacation, remains of brutally slaughtered black bears are discovered on an abandoned farm. But that's not all. Among the skeletal paws, Tempe finds human bones, leading her to a trail of smugglers who earn bloody money from killing wildlife. Anyone who gets too close must fear for their life. Tempe investigates.