By turns tender, gritty, and poignant, Gary Reed's tale of love in a time of war follows him from the quiet security of a mountain village in the Southwest, through the destruction and carnage he witnesses onboard an aircraft carrier operating off Vietnam, and as he returns to the mountains he loves, where he hopes to recover from his traumatic experiences and restore meaning to his life by reuniting with Kristina Preston, his high school sweetheart.

Yet, he and Kristy discover that the brutal consequences of war have spread even into the remote mountains of New Mexico, concealing menace within the shadows of their imagined Eden.