Mike Sullivan is determined to raise his six-year-old daughter Sarah to become a tough, independent woman.
His own mother left when he was twelve, promising to return and rescue him from his father, an abusive and violently unpredictable thief who, Mike believes, is responsible for her disappearance. But Mike's wife, Jess, has an overprotective need to shelter Sarah. Rebelling against her paranoia, Mike waits until Jess leaves the house and then, against her wishes, takes Sarah sledding.
Only Sarah doesn't want to go up the hill with her father. Sarah wants to go up with her best friend. In love with his daughter's stubbornness, Mike grants her wish, and when Sarah doesn't come down, he finds himself stuck in the middle of a snowstorm, his daughter gone.
Five years later, Sarah is still missing. The only suspect, Francis Jonah, the former priest believed to be responsible for the disappearance of two other girls, is dying of cancer. On the anniversary of Sarah's disappearance, her jacket is discovered — by Jonah.
Battling a failed marriage and desperate for the truth, Mike is in a frenzied race to unlock Jonah's monstrous secrets before he dies. What is the connection between the disappearance of Sarah and Mike's mother? And why has Mike's father suddenly reappeared? In this gripping story of loss, compassion, and forgiveness, Mike must confront a family history steeped in lies, deceit, and, hardest of all, the persistent suspicion that his daughter might still be alive.