When a young man is killed in a violent car crash shortly after graduating from high school, the investigating trooper writes it up as a single-vehicle accident involving drug use. The mother needs to grieve, but the father wants answers at any cost.even at the expense of his wife and daughter. The victim's aunt tries to save the family by enlisting the reluctant help of Soren Graves (a forensic scientist struggling to complete his doctorate before a funding cut and a deadline cause him to fail) to uncover the truth of the crash.Soren's investigation of the crash site, the car, and another car's airbag computer (the 'black box') prove that another car ran the victim off the road that night, and it was likely a homicide. As he and the victim's sister work to identify the suspect, they both become targets of retribution by the murderer, and the unfolding events ensnare Soren and the victim's family in a web of southern criminal activity that has them fighting not only for justice, but also for their lives.