How far can a man go seeking vengeance before it destroys his own soul? Software engineer, Nathaniel Myer, is a restless suburbanite whose world is shattered when chance places him in the path of a sociopath with the face of a saint. Nathaniel brushes off the fleeting encounter but in the hours that follow, he falls asleep in his wifes arms and awakes to unimaginable horror. Nate battles back through frailty, grief, guilt, and ultimately rage when time after time, the four tattooed suspects who destroyed his life skip ahead of the police then completely through their fingers. Finding the men known as Number One, Two, Three, and Four becomes Nates sole reason for being until his obsession destroys what little he has left. On the street, owning nothing but the clothes on his back and a crumpled wad of papers he got off a crooked PI, more than ever Nate cares about little beyond his single-minded crusade. Fate has other plans, however, because when a cantankerous old army veteran with strange blackouts, an emotionally disturbed kid with too many piercings, and a feisty mother and child hiding from their case worker all need a hero, Nate is somehow in the right place at the right time, and the man he used to be cant do other than help them. As long as none of his wards depend on him long term, because Nate doesnt plan on sticking around anywhere once his crusade ends. But staying sharp and playing reluctant guardian lands him squarely in reach of the very animals hes hunting and, most of all, their clever and elusive leader. Then abruptly, Nates life takes another series of blinding turns and the justice hes sought so long is on the line. But how can he risk letting a habitual killer smile and slip away again? Or must he, Nate, become the ultimate bait and sacrifice?

Typed transcript of the diary of Nathaniel Myer, who traveled overland to Oregon from Van Buren, Iowa, in 1853, arriving in the Rogue River Valley on September 25, 1853.