On Native-American land, in a lonely, mystical place called the Canyon of the Spirit, prize livestock is being slaughtered as part of some strange and secret rite. Darkness is stalking the reservation, and Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon fears for his world and his people.

Because now the ritual is spilling human blood.

A terrifying rash of sacrificial murders has left Moon shaken, yet determined to find answers. The bizarre killings have shattered Anglo policeman Scott Parris's belief in a rational, explainable world. But it Daisy Perika, an aging Ute shaman, who holds the key. For only she who communes with the ancient spirits can truly comprehend the evil that has descended upon southwestern Colorado--an evil that is hungry. . . and all too real.