Cody Hoyt, although a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his friend Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who's fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. As Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend's death, it becomes apparent that someone murdered him and tried to make it seem like something else. After years of bad behavior with his department, he's in no position to be investigating a homicide, but Cody will stop at nothing to find his friend's killer.
When clues found at the scene link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a multiday wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park--a pack trip that includes his son Justin--Cody is desperate to get on their trail and stop the killer before the group heads into the wild. Among the tourists is fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous.
In a fatal cat-and-mouse game, where it becomes clear that the murderer is somehow aware of Cody's every move, Cody treks into the wilderness to stop a killer hell-bent on destroying the only thing in his life he cares about. With breathtaking pace and vivid details, Back of Beyond takes you into one of the most remote places on earth, and the heart of danger.