When Robbie Olsen, a veteran suffering from PTSD, discovers the body of a 16-year-old girl while trekking with his dog in the remote Appalachian Mountains, his life takes an unexpected and dangerous turn. Feeling alienated from society and grappling with suicidal thoughts after returning from the war, he is determined to uncover the truth behind the young girl's death. Robbie sees it as a way to find redemption for his mistakes in Afghanistan that cost the lives of several of his men. His resolve to bring the killer to justice takes him into a nearby town with a dark and seedy history and where he is torn between the affections of two beautiful women.
In Butterfly River, Robbie finds friendship, love, and danger as he investigates a mysterious murder and digs deeper into the complex relationships of a small town run by two brothers; one a ruthless killer and the other who is independent, wild, and involved in an incestuous relationship with their sister. Robbie soon learns that the murdered teenager was far from the innocent girl next door and enters a world of sex and drugs tied to a Russian oligarch's son and discovers that the teenager might have been killed for stealing a laptop containing incriminating evidence of politicians engaging in sex with underage girls.
Robbie's journey, maneuvering the dangerous boundaries between the Russian syndicate, assassins, and the mountain clan, takes him on an unexpected journey of healing, recovery, and love in the most surprising of ways.