Phil LeMaitre
In an area that few people in the United States on either coast can identify, a place exists that exudes the very essence of the term community. Hidden in the middle of an oil field in Wyoming is a unique area where people look after another when trouble comes.
In the fall of 1984, an event shook even the resilient Salt Creek community to its core, only to witness the grit and determination that made its high school athletes famous. So when a popular teacher and coach named Tim Savolt goes missing, everyone is affected. He was last seen by a friend while walking along the bank of the Salt Creek while collecting water samples for a study. Perhaps the most disturbed person about the news is incoming senior Josh Anderson. He should have accompanied the teacher that day if he hadn’t overslept.
Like most teenage boys in the region, Josh’s focus each fall centers around academics and football. However, Josh is unique. Instead of drowning in guilt, he launches an investigation to find Savolt. Together with a few of his closest friends, Josh and the boys discover clues that even law enforcement officers missed. But, unfortunately, a mysterious dark green 1978 Ford pickup with two strangers inside begins to hunt the boys after they find every clue. Why the men were even in that part of Wyoming is even a bigger mystery. However, unbeknownst to everyone in the area, a protective guardian is ready to intercede on the boys’ behalf. Yet, even in tragedy, something miraculous happens that particular football season that binds residents into an even closer bond.
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In an area that few people in Boston, New York, or Los Angeles could find on a map, a place exists that exudes the very essence of the term community. Hidden in the middle of an oil field in Wyoming is a unique area where people look after their own when trouble comes.
Deputy Tracy James is a recent graduate from the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy and is struggling to establish herself in the testosterone-filled environment of the Sheriff’s Department. She receives an impetuous transfer offer that she can either accept or reject. Awaiting her arrival in the town of Midwest is Sergeant Eddie Crandall. He is somewhat of an enigma himself due to his quiet and reserved nature. He, too, continuously falls out of Sheriff Doan’s favor for no apparent reason.
The harsh Wyoming winter of 1992 continued its tight grip on the region with sudden snowstorms and continuous wind. On Deputy James’ first day, she and Eddie investigate the death of a mystery man who succumbs to the wintry elements not far outside town limits. When searching the man’s pockets, they find a folded piece of paper containing a cryptic poem as a clue. Unpredictably, the ode will guide the duo during a whirlwind trip through the Rocky Mountain region, where they find evidence to both their current and even a past investigation. But, their greatest enemy is the ever-present biting wind that pushes them to their limits.
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Hope Granderson, a reporter from Denver, arrives at the office of the newly elected County Sheriff for an interview. She asks Eddie Crandall to recall a particularly troubling case in his past when he was still a Lieutenant. But, instead of telling a simple story, the Sheriff takes the reporter on a field trip to the Salt Creek community where she can see where it all took place.
The Salt Creek community is an actual location that few people within the United States have ever seen or even heard about before. But within the small hovel in central Wyoming, it exudes the very essence of the term community. It is unique in the sense that people look after their own whenever trouble comes. But even in the nicest of places, bad things can happen without anyone realizing what is happening.
The story centers around a teenaged couple that fails to show up at their prom. The Salt Creek community immediately responds by rallying together in support while also demanding answers from the Sheriff’s office, which refuses to help. Further complicating the case, new evidence suggests that other teenaged girls mysteriously disappeared from small towns spread out across northeastern Wyoming. Were the incidents connected? Eddie, along with the area’s newly assigned deputy, Cory Jackson, begins an investigation to find the truth