Monastery Valley

It’s the rugged Monastery Valley of Montana. High on the cliff called the Coliseum stands a man, deciding whether to live or die. In the valley below, Grace Ellonson, fourteen, will be abandoned by her mother. Where has Grace’s mother gone, and why has she left her daughter behind? A rancher will be seduced into a racist and anti-government conspiracy—who’s leading the conspiracy and what are his plans? Depressed psychologist Ed Northrup and Monastery Valley newcomer deputy sheriff Andi Pelton struggle to unravel these mysteries before they explode in a violent collision.

When cattle baron Magnus Anderssen collapses mentally, psychologist Ed Northrup struggles to find the cause - a terrible event buried in Magnus's past leaving him veering between suicide and murder. Meanwhile, Deputies Andi Pelton and Brad Ordrew clash as they investigate Jared Hansen, a boy caught with rifles and a paranoid plan to kill his schoolmates. Their problem? Jared, a great kid, a school leader, has no previous problems. Ordrew’s convinced Jared’s a mass shooter-in-waiting, but Andi’s not.

A mysterious fire in a remote forest clearing; a woman's charred bones; unexplained tracks in the rutted road - the only clues Deputy Andi Pelton has to what happened. Then, she meets an old man living alone in a forest compound that obviously houses many people. Sex trafficking in the Montana wilderness? As Andi and psychologist Ed Northrup struggle to solve the brutal and fiery murder, Andi faces a fear she didn’t know she had.

A cold-blooded murder. The victim: a 14-year-old boy. The shooter waits patiently for the cops and calmly explains his right to kill the boy. “I was defending my property.” Can Deputy Andi Pelton find the evidence to break through the killer’s stand-your-ground defense? Suddenly, Sheriff Ben Stewart almost dies and cannot campaign for re-election. Andi knows she has to take his place - her nemesis, Deputy Brad Ordrew, runs unopposed and he’s promised to fire her when he’s sheriff.  

The hottest Montana summer on record. Tempers fray, cattle suffer. Heavily armed protesters vowing to “take back federal lands for the people” occupy and fortify a summer pasture belonging to the Bureau of Land Management, naming it Freedom Camp. Deputy Andi Pelton and Sheriff Ordrew must deal with these men, whose fury only mounts.