Butch Roberson was known to all as a hard worker, a family man, a local business owner. Now he's disappeared, leaving two dead bodies in his wake. Joe Pickett cannot believe the gentle Butch is a cold-blooded killer - but when he hears the story of how Butch was bullied by the authorities, of how his longed-for retirement home was taken away from him, of how it tore his family apart - he starts to wonder if perhaps the man just cracked. It's an awful story. But is it the whole story? When Joe investigates further, he finds himself in the middle of a war he never expected and never wanted. Powerful forces want Roberson not just caught, but dead - and the same goes for anyone who stands in their way.