When California Highway Patrol officer Edward Malus investigates the disappearance of his former fiancée's daughter on a remote Pacific Northwest island, he finds that nothing is what it seems. The place has its own traditions, and its secretive people observe a forgotten way of life. They also ridicule Edward's investigation, insisting that the missing child never existed--or was no longer alive. In his efforts to unravel the island's closely held secrets, Edward is drawn into a web of ancient traditions and murderous deceit, and each step he takes closer to the lost child brings him one step closer to the unspeakable. And, one step closer to The Wicker Man.