Dr. Emily Travis, an animal scientist in Raleigh, NC, has been requested to visit a dairy farm where the cattle have become seriously sick-to the point of death-with a mystery illness. She is aided in her investigation by her prison chaplain husband, Stephen, who is recovering from a gunshot wound due to their investigation into the victimization of inmates by prison staff (Criminal Justice). What begins as straightforward scientific investigation leads to the discovery of deliberate dumping of toxic waste (PCBs) over hundreds of miles of rural roads-polluting land, water sources and all those who rely upon them. But who would do such a thing and why? As more animal herds and people begin to fall ill, Emily and Stephen find themselves involved in a web of criminal intrigue wherein the person(s) behind the toxic spills will stop at nothing-including murder-to keep from being found out.

Jack Lawson grew up in North Carolina. As an ordained minister he worked as a prison chaplain in North Carolina and Ohio, and later served as a parish minister in the US and the United Kingdom. After earning a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible, he taught both ministerial candidates and lay people in the English counties of Kent and Norfolk. After leaving parish ministry in 1997, Jack worked for the Countryside Agency, focusing on rural economic regeneration and managing a European Social Fund grant between Kent and Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In the process he developed an intense love of France and the French people. Later, Jack spent more than 12 years as training and development officer for the Methodist Church in East Anglia. Jack is married to Chris, a former mental health specialist who worked with children and families in the UK. They reside in Lower Normandy, France.