There is something wrong with River Wild. She has dreams that are more like visions. She experiences impulses for violence, and behaviour that she can't explain. It frightens her. Her mother was murdered, and her father was taken away to parts unknown by a woman she had never before seen. And the years of aimless hunting for the perpetrator of her misery have accomplished nothing.

But that's about to change. As she comes of age, River is drawn into a world she never knew existed - the secret world of the Skinwalkers, men and women who can assume the shape of beasts. The shadow from River's past comes calling, bringing news of her father. But does she want to bring River into the fold… or exterminate her?