In far Northern Minnesota, on a remote part of the Iron Lake Reservation, Desolation Mountain is a favorite destination of adventurous photographers and hikers, but the native Ojibwe people have long viewed it as a cursed place. When a private plane carrying a senator and her family crashes into the mountain during a storm, killing everyone on board, Stephen O'Connor realizes that the recurring visions he has been having of a great bird shot from the sky have turned into a terrible reality. Stephen joins his father, Cork O'Connor, and a few Ojibwe men from the nearby Iron Lake Reservation who were the first on the scene at the crash site. They've barely begun to sift through the smoldering wreckage when the FBI arrives and quickly assumes control of the situation, dismissing Cork, Stephen, and the other searchers. Unable to ignore the premonition that something even worse is coming, Cork quietly initiates his own probe and comes upon a familiar face in Bo Thorson, a private security consultant whose unnamed clients have hired him to look quietly into the cause of the crash. The men agree to join forces in their investigation, but Cork begins to wonder if Thorson's loyalties lie elsewhere. In the dark shadow of Desolation Mountain, after several of their fellow first responders have abruptly vanished, Cork, Stephen, and Bo attempt to navigate a perilous course. Misdirected by the lies from the government, uncertain whom to trust, and facing growing threats as they dig deeper for answers, they finally understand that to get to the truth, they will have to confront the great menace, a beast of true evil lurking in the woods - a beast with a murderous intent of unimaginable scale.