A former Marine, Roland Ford has devoted his life to fighting the good fight—to doing what is right and just, for himself, his country, and the people he loves. But now, some 15 years later, after leaving the Corps and subsequently losing his beloved young wife in a plane crash, Ford is a broken man. To make ends meet, Ford has become a private detective near San Diego. He’s good at his job, and it’s earned him a reputation as one of the best trackers on the West Coast.

On the outside, the mental-health facility known as Arcadia looks extraordinary, but looks can be deceiving. At its heart, Arcadia is essentially a prison—and now, one of its most enigmatic residents has managed to escape. Clay Hickman came to Arcadia three years ago. An Air Force vet, he served in the second Iraq war and was deemed a danger to himself and others, suffering from schizoaffective disorder and bipolar syndrome. He was violent and depressed. Or at least that’s what Ford learns when he is hired to find Hickman.

What’s immediately intriguing to Ford is the cast of people surrounding Hickman, both before and after his escape. The mystery will truly unravel when Ford begins to suspect the truth: Clay Hickman’s military record is not what it is purported to be. Someone has fudged the truth, and whatever really happened—both to him and because of him—is perhaps the reason that Clay has gone into hiding and so many people are eager to find him… and why some will kill to get to him.