According to detective John Cardinal, the truly diabolical thing about blackflies is their stealthy silence; there is no warning and no chance to make a pre-emptive strike to prevent a bite. Every year at the beginning of May, they take over Algonquin Bay in Ontario, Canada.

This spring, the blackflies aren’t the only visitors. A self-proclaimed shaman and card-carrying member of the Chippewa First Nations has also arrived. Known as Red Bear, he has recruited three young men who share a history of drug use and living on the fringe.

There's another mysterious visitor. At the World Tavern, the least reputable bar in town, OPP officer Jerry Commanda is enjoying his regular Friday night Diet Coke with a squeeze of lemon. He meets a young, red-haired woman who is unable to tell him her name, where she lives, or how she came to be there. It’s not until a hospital X-ray reveals a bullet lodged in her brain that the reason for her amnesia becomes clear. Detectives Cardinal and Delorme get the call.

What do they find? Bikers, bizarre hieroglyphics, and a rising body count.

Librarian's note: the characters, settings, pub dates, etc. have been done for the six novels in the author's John Cardinal series. They are: 1. Forty Words for Sorrow (2000), 2. The Delicate Storm (2003), 3. Blackfly Season (2005), 4. The Fields of Grief (2006), 5. Crime Machine (2010), and 6. Until the Night (2012).