Katsuk, a militant Native American student, has kidnapped thirteen-year-old David Marshall—the son of the US undersecretary of state. He and his young hostage flee into the deepest wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where they must work together to survive as teams of hunters try to track them. Even as he struggles to escape, David begins to feel a certain amount of respect for his captor. What the boy does not know, however, is that he has been chosen as an innocent from the white world for an ancient sacrifice of vengeance. And Katsuk may be divinely inspired—or simply insane.

This tale of vengeance and sacrifice touches upon many Native American myths even as it reveals various truths in its antihero.