In this action-packed debut thriller for fans of C. J. Box, DEA agent Garrett Kohl fights to protect his home on the Texas High Plains when a vicious criminal enterprise threatens his family. As a decorated undercover DEA special agent, Garrett Kohl has traveled the world-and fought in most of it-but it's the High Plains of northwest Texas he calls home and dreams of returning to one day. Kohl is in the middle of an assignment in Afghanistan when his commander orders him back to Texas on a short mission expected to take a week at most. But he's unsettled to discover that he's moved from one kind of war to another. The once-peaceful ranching community he loves is under attack by a band of criminals controlled by a rich, entitled businessman who has infiltrated law enforcement, corrupted local businesses, and is now terrorizing Kohl's own family. Hoping to prevent bloodshed, Kohl tries to resolve matters peacefully. But when the group strikes first, he has no choice but to go on the attack. Unfortunately for the criminal crew, besides being an elite undercover officer for the DEA, Garrett Kohl is a battle-hardened Green Beret who spent the better part of his career hunting terrorists. Although outnumbered and outgunned, Kohl knows the wild and forsaken Llano Estacado region of Texas better than anyone. And like so many trespassers before them, these murderers will find out the hard way that the only thing tougher than this land is the people who call it home.