When young surgeon David Carroll suspects that the mysterious buyers who want to purchase his group's medical practice are Russian mobsters, he decides to take a stand against them. This decision takes a disastrous turn when the mobsters attack his home, killing his wife and the three FBI agents assigned to protect them. David, although wounded, survives, but is now a prime suspect and is forced to flee.
Hunted by the FBI and the Russian mob, David escapes to the one place where he thinks no one will ever find him-a remote shieling or shepherd's hut in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. As he struggles to survive in the harsh wilderness, David's refuge is invaded by Catriona Gordon, a young anthropology student who has come to research old shielings. Resentful of each other's presence, little do either of them realize how Catriona's deep dive into history will bring the catastrophic events of David's own past roaring back into the present.

Former construction laborer, cab driver, and dock worker, Michael Collins is also the former chief resident in orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic. He is the author of two acclaimed medical memoirs, Hot Lights, Cold Steel and Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs, and the Vietnam War-era novel All Bleeding Stops. Mike is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. He and his wife, Patti, were born, raised, and still live on the West Side of Chicago. Mike is a frequent visitor to the Outer Hebrides where his experiences became the inspiration for this novel.