Franklin is a small, rural North Carolina town--one that Sara Richards, the local hospital’s youngest psychiatrist, is about to leave for an exciting practice in New York. When a mysterious patient is brought into the police station, she quickly scans the "John Doe's" file and assumes she can make quick work of the patient. But her initial in-person assessment turns into a game of mental chess when John Doe warns the psychiatrist that it may not be a wise decision to listen to his life's story. That he may have knowledge of Sara's parents, who disappeared many years ago. A mystery, two decades old, is about to be revealed, and in ways that none of Sara's training could ever prepare her for... James Heberger is an American novelist, a cold case detective for the prosecutor's office in Detroit, and a United States Air Force veteran. In between story ideas, he and his wife spend their time watching their son play soccer.