National Network for Equitable Library Service

Stories are carried like cargo on trains from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast in this cautionary tale of what happens when we're haunted by the hunger for the ever-greater development and exploitation of natural resources. A 19th-century English fur trader, his Cree wife, and Métis guide are harrowingly pursued by an unseen monster on the Athabasca River. Two freshwater biologists in present-day Fort McMurray are investigating water pollution and dead fish, until one becomes obsessed with their discovery of centuries-old skeletons and the other wants to go public with their findings. A young man comes to work in the oil sands where he meets a stripper, but their connection is severed when he returns home after discovering the body of a young man. Meanwhile a young glacier tour guide working at the Athabasca glacier recounts finding a body in ice. And between all the bodies are interwoven vignettes that lead up to a major oil spill, filling out a chilling story of lives lived and lost on rivers and railways.