In the summer of 2009, Dawson Cole, 42, works on an oil rig off the coast of New Orleans. He is nearly killed when an explosion tosses him into the ocean, leaving him floating and drifting with no help in sight. A dark-haired man miraculously waves to him from a distance and directs him to a life preserver. After reaching the life preserver, Dawson is picked up by a supply ship. He again spots the mysterious dark-haired man in the ship and feels uneasy, wondering how he got there. After the accident, Dawson’s company offers him a large sum of money as a settlement, most of which Dawson transfers to a secret account. Though he is physically okay, since the accident, Dawson feels like he is being watched. He is also worried about the hallucinations he has been experiencing.

Dawson lives in an old, dilapidated single-wide trailer on the outskirts of New Orleans. It is not very homey, but he keeps it meticulously clean. He does not have a social life, and his only social contact is a rare letter to Tuck Hostetler, his only friend back in his hometown, Oriental, North Carolina. One afternoon, Dawson receives a call informing him of Tuck’s death, and he prepares to go to Oriental for the funeral; it will be his first time back in his hometown in nearly 20 years.