Something is dreadfully wrong in the small, outback town of Moulamein, Australia. Something so profoundly unsettling that Chris Hall, a fugitive, hiding out in the most unlikely of places, faces the daunting responsibility of revealing the truth to the town's residents. Even convincing his childhood sweetheart, Carly Parish is a mission fraught with peril and often, death. The improbable truth, revealed only by evading the midnight signal, will not set them free. It will take the cooperation of many highly differing cultures to produce a plan with which to survive the impending disaster threatening their town and so much more.

When a gruesome murder shocks the small cane farming community of Ingham, Queensland, Detective Arnold Ryan feels it more keenly than most, since the victim is an old friend. Ryan's vow to apprehend the culprit intensifies when a second incident, bearing all the trademarks of the first, leaves another friend dead. Realising his prime suspect has cause to hate him and his friends, Ryan must act quickly to prevent further bloodshed. Moreover, an escalation by the serial killer may uncover a dark secret that the township--and Ryan--would rather leave buried.