Still coping with the loss of his young wife years ago, passionless Bill Malone has to take on developers who want to build condominiums on his beloved South Dakota retreat, Brendan Prairie, and an investigation into the suspicious death of developer Andy Arnold.

Once a great falconer and environmentalist, Malone has entered middle age a broken man, devoid of the passion and promise of his youth. And now the developers are threatening to build condominiums on his beloved Brendan prairie.