An anonymous blue patient is abandoned at the doorstep of Oakland City Hospital and cries out for her young daughter before passing out. Doctor Nora Kelly must struggle against the clock to diagnose her patient's life-threatening illness and mysterious discoloration. The task becomes more difficult when the patient awakens but refuses to speak with anyone on staff, fearing reprisals from immigration and child-protection authorities. Nora suspects that her patient's illness is caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, and she worries that others in the community may be endangered as well. But the patient remains silent. Only after learning that Nora saved her life does she agree to answer Nora's burning questions-still, for a price. In return, Nora must deliver a confidential message to her daughter. Nora's end of that bargain is the beginning of a perilous journey that leads to a homeless encampment at a decrepit local stadium site. With the help of her colleagues, she desperately searches for the daughter as she also discovers that other encampment residents have succumbed to toxic exposures. Her insistent attempts to prove the site's environmental contamination come up against powerful systemic forces and trigger dangerous personal consequences. "Scannell lifts the veil on the life-and-death struggles taking place both inside and around the edges of an . A fast-paced drama of overlapping lives, conflicting emotions, and the threats posed by ." Leslie Larson, author of "With , Kate Scannell crafts a mystery threaded with . In present-day , California, Nora Kelly is a doctor in a community hospital. surrounding the redevelopment of a local stadium site where her patients camp.With the aid of her colleagues, Kelly investigates the site's potential contamination. As the novel races toward its conclusion, she uncovers a decades-old conspiracy that interweaves many of Oakland's most pressing social problems, including Scannell , bringing a vibrancy to individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, from debutantes to homeless individuals... ... Scannell's authorial gaze is remarkably compassionate, especially to those who have been discarded by society at large. I ..." - : 4 out of 5 ...This series title includes characters from a previous volume; their introductions here are light, but their personalities are still made apparent... And the book's mystery elements are ...These varying stories connect in the in which Nora's fears-and her willingness to push through them-are validated... - Clarion Reviews