Special Agent Samantha Wright is mourning her mentor Dr. Sampson who died during a heinous serial killer profile-a complex, socially and ethnically sensitive, multi-state case in the West involving Native American boys on various reservations being sexually defiled and murdered. Sam's heart is aching at the loss of the doctor, but she must continue investigating The Reservations Case, for him. An accomplished profiler, Sam has abilities other agents do not possess and along with her boss and part-time lover, Special Agent Charlie Falken she plans to apprehend the killer.
The Bureau is Sam's life, and she is an unconventional forensic psychologist, seeing things differently and with the clarity of a seer. Her profiles are tragically accurate and psychologically warped. To cope in her macabre world of death Sam relies on her dark and self-deprecating sense of humor.
Now that Dr. Sampson is dead, Sam takes his work product to the Cheyenne Reservation outside Ashland, Montana to finish what he started and bring the serial killer to justice-dead or alive. To navigate the nuances of the Native American culture and reservation, Sam hires a Cheyenne tracker, Will Little Bear, to back her up. The journey for Sam and Will ensues with a blending of cultures, while enduring all the harsh Montana terrain can throw at them.