Dr. Bierwiler follows his first novel, Mist on the River, with the story of Bill "Doc" Harrison, Jr. from a childhood family tragedy in Spokane, Washington through his troubled relationships as an adult in Fort Worth, Texas. The emotional scars run deep, but never seem to heal. Doc spends the next twenty years as a police officer solving life and death crises at work while ignoring his own crisis at home. When his world finally seems to collapse, he chides himself, "It was almost as if I was watching another man's life unfold from a distance. How did I end up missing out on so much?" Doc is unaware that there is one more chance to redeem himself.

When alcohol and depression overtakes Jim Delano, he forfeits his family, his friends and his job in Dallas-Fort Worth. Jim sets out in his old pickup to live an unencumbered life devoid of responsibility in sparsely populated west Texas. However, the accidental discovery of a dead immigrant worker leads him into a murky world of drugs and counterfeit cash. The only way to recover the life he left behind is through working undercover with his former mentor to bring down the syndicate that controls the desolate Texas town of San Mateo near the Mexican border.