After writing a story in Amish country, New York journalist Philip Bradley returns to Lancaster County haunted by the memory of a soft-spoken widow he met there, but winning her heart is just the first step in long journey that will require him surrendering his own culture.

"Serial killer James Michael Barrett leads a grim parade of police officers, FBI agents, and forensics into the woods of Pine Valley, forty-five miles east of San Diego. At the end of the second week of his high-profile murder trial, he has struck a plea deal with the prosecution: he'll reveal the location of his last victim's body in exchange for the D.A. taking the death penalty off the table. As they reach the site, a light rain begins to fall,...