On a foggy summer night, eleven people--ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter--depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs-the painter-and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family. With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the...

The second chapter is set in 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Luverne, Minnesota, where young State Police Officer Lou Solverson, recently back from Vietnam, will tackle an all-new 'true crime' case.