Book excerpt: Memphis private eye Race Warren goes to Alaska to find Ron Billings, a client's estranged husband. Surviving a deadly encounter with an assassin, Warren realizes someone doesn't want Billings found. Since the fugitive is key to the mystery, the private eye tracks Billings to a remote arctic village where Warren meets Dr. Mark Dunbar, head of a science team studying ancient beliefs that may have led to the bizarre killing of a native woman. Hoping to get information, Warren befriends the scientists as they uncover a cult involved in animal shapeshifting, findings that fit with rumors the girl was killed by a mythic wolf. Warren finds Billings, an ex-policeman searching for his daughter, Carrie, taken by Russian Andrey Volkov, head of a human trafficking ring. The private eye and ex-cop join forces, flying to a North Slope oil town where the daughter is believed held in the sex trade. Failing to find Carrie, the two break out another captive, Myra, who reports the daughter is held at the Russian's Anchorage estate. Warren and Billings flee south with the girl, battling Volkov henchmen along the way. At the village, the scientists learn a tribal shaman attempted a child sacrifice, but the boy miraculously survives and is rescued from the wilds and placed in a covert foster home. Believing the child is still in danger, Dunbar seeks Warren's help as the team concludes their study and prepares to present their findings in Anchorage where they arrive just as Myra's rescuers deliver the girl safely to the authorities. In an assault on Volkov's mountain fortress, Billings frees his daughter then returns with her to Memphis while Warren stays behind for a final task. After he locates the boy and his caretaker in an old apartment building, Warren faces an unspeakable evil that has killed twice and is bent on destroying the child