In a sleepy North Central Florida town, Paul Bradley's life is adrift as disturbing rumors compel him onto his beloved Lake Lacuna. His canoe capsizes near an island. He struggles to shore and sleeps on a sand bar by a misty swamp. At dawn the nearby island is gone. Two weeks later his wife disappears. A fisherman finds blood-soaked parts of her shredded clothes floating in the dark, gator-infested water. Paul's life is changing. Strange encounters. Under surveillance. Missing journals. Reality is an enigma. He survives a brain operation and must take charge of his life, stop drifting, make hard decisions, and start life anew. His boyhood pal from twenty years ago turns up to help. Things are looking up. And then the phone rings...