It is 1984, and just about everyone needs a miracle. What better place to seek one than in an enchanted forest? A friendly and casual community of hikers, nature enthusiasts, gay men seeking discrete sexual encounters, and assorted social outcasts had proven socially compatible and peaceful for years. At the center of this group was the park's unofficial "earth mother", a tender but tough retiree named Naomi Livingston, ever happy to interact with the park's younger regulars straight or gay. No one had any idea that ranger Randall Damron had been blinded by the light of a vision, a spiritual calling to "clean up the park" of anyone breaking the law or park rules. He was convinced that he was chosen to do so by God Himself, with Ronald Reagan's blessings. Randall thus initiates an intense crusade to rid the park of anyone involved in criminal behavior, especially the gay men engaging in casual sex encounters, and word soon spreads among the park's regulars that he does not merely entrap gay men and have them hauled off to jail, but that he physically assaults them in the process. Rather than assisting and serving the park's visitors as he had once done, he becomes a rigidly authoritarian and harassing presence to one and all. Even the trees, who share their thoughts and observations with the reader from time to time throughout the book, notice the tension and disruption in their once peaceful midst. When the body of a dead woman is discovered in the park, Randall's frustration exacerbates as he tries to crack the case himself when the LAPD falters. No one in the park is aware Randall is motivated by personal political ambition and dreams of glory in ridding the park of illegal or immoral activity before he is interviewed on television as a hero at an upcoming celebration intended to enhance the park's reputation as a family- friendly gathering place. As Randall's anger reaches the breaking point the community he once served with a sense of professional duty watches helplessly as all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile, a mysterious book that promises miracles to those who read it continues to pass from hand to hand among the park regulars. Will it ever reach the hands of a ranger out of control who needs it most of all? Romance, sex, life and death occur amidst the living, breathing beauty of the park, and even as the sunny optimism of the Reagan era beams forth, a dark and horrific epidemic begins its devastating descent. After reading this book you may never look at a tree the same way again.