Long ago, the Red Fever transformed a world full of light and life into a primeval wasteland littered with relics and decaying cities. In time, the scattered remains of humanity gathered into small, warring tribes. For sixteen-year-old Kestrel Stoneheart, the ghosts of yesterday have little bearing on the future she has worked for her entire life: to join the elite warriors of her tribe and protect her people against all enemies. But before she can stand beneath the Bone Tree and become a Red Hand, she must first survive the rite of the Kill. What Kestrel doesn't know is that the greatest danger lies hidden within her own tribe, a menace that threatens not only her life but the very existence of her people.