In Panama's Darien jungle, Colombian rebels kidnap American wildlife biologists tracking a harpy eagle – the most ferocious raptor alive. In Maryland, researchers at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center discover this eagle has vanished. The link between these abductions unfolds in a story of smuggling wildlife, running drugs, tracking clues via satellite, and succumbing to unlikely romance. This story about facing the past in order to handle the future skips from Central America to Dubai, and then across the United States - from northeastern suburbs to windy high peaks in Colorado.