Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses murder, sexual harassment, sexual assault, child abuse, and trauma.

The novel takes place in Fairhill, Vermont. It is surrounded by farmland, and the teenagers have little to do there other than school, sports, and driving their parents’ trucks with their friends. It is a small town where “nothing ever happens […] until it does” (1).

As Roy Ressler drives his tractor along his field, he spots turkey vultures circling in a field up ahead. He finds a dead girl, her eyes gone and her stomach ripped open.

Paula Acosta is an English teacher at the local high school. Her daughter, Taylor, a ninth grader, is one of her students; Paula worries about her daughter’s addiction to her phone and her ability to adjust to high school.

Roy watches over the body until the police arrive. Roy stares at bruising along the girl’s neck, trying not to look at her ruined face or her naked body. He thinks of his daughter, who is about to get married, and forces himself not to cry.

The narration shifts to the dead girl, who sees the police officers, Roy, and his dog looking at something in the field.