A murdered conservation officer and a multi-million-dollar poaching business—how are they connected to Sam Rivers’ childhood friend?

Holden Riggins is an expert outdoorsman and a known poacher. He’s made a small fortune by exploiting nature’s bounty. So it’s no surprise when two conservation officers (COs) from the Department of Natural Resources come upon Holden’s fishing boat, anchored beside an illegal walleye net.

What is a surprise, though, is Holden’s condition: nearly frozen to death on the bottom of his boat. That’s not the COs’ most shocking discovery. Twisted and tangled within the twines of another nearby net is the dead body of their missing colleague.

After the COs save Holden from the icy grip of hypothermia, the suspected murderer refuses to answer questions. The only person he’ll speak with is Sam Rivers, a man he last saw when they were 12 years old. Since then, Holden has become a known scofflaw and ex-con, using wilderness and everything in it for his ill-gotten gains. Sam has become a special agent for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, hunting, capturing, and incarcerating criminals—like his childhood friend.

Throughout the state’s finest walleye lakes, the population of Minnesota’s most prized game fish has been unaccountably dropping. Holden’s net might explain why. Has he resurrected his illegal netting ring, cashing in on the state’s $25-million walleye industry? Did he commit murder to evade the law? One thing is certain: Sam will follow the facts wherever they lead—but is he the one reeling in suspects, or is he just the bait?

Natural history writer Cary J. Griffith brings back Sam Rivers for his fourth outdoors-themed mystery—a suspenseful novel filled with fast-paced action.