Set in the outback of Western Australia, this novel centers around the disappearance of Kuj, an eight-year-old girl, during a bitter custody battle. Annie, an anthropology graduate newly arrived from the city, is increasingly distracted from her work by the mysterious event. As Annie searches for the truth beneath the township's wild speculations, she find herself increasingly drawn towards Mick Hooper, a muscly, laid-back Australian man with secrets of his own.