The world has its empty places, and so does the heart.

Ellie Freeman, a low-level federal employee, is stuck in a dead-end desert town that no longer feels like home. What makes things worse are the threatening phone calls she's been getting. When Duncan Harris, a British journalist, stops by to interview her for a series he's writing, Ellie feels something close to hope that there's still good to be salvaged from her life. But before that hope can be fulfilled, Ellie is kidnapped.

When Duncan finds out what has happened to Ellie, he throws his journalist's neutrality out of the window and heads off to find her. What he discovers is a cult led by a deluded but charismatic leader. Somehow, he has to get Ellie out of his clutches and he'll do whatever it takes. When the cult leader raises the stakes, the mission becomes very personal indeed.