'Red Bear stood close to the fire and stretched toward the sky, every muscle in his body straining. The veins in his neck stood out like electrical cords. His voice had gone thin and raspy, and the words came streaming out of him with a terrible urgency. The words- if in fact they were words - collided with one another.' [Blackfly Season, page 94]According to Detective John Cardinal, the truly diabolical thing about blackflies is their stealthy silence; there is no warning and no chance of a pre-emptive strike. Every year at the beginning of May, they take over Algonquin Bay.This year, the blackflies aren't the only ones to make their way into town. A self-proclaimed shaman and card-carrying member of the Chippewa First Nations has also arrived. Known only as Red Bear, the mysterious figure has recruited three young men who share a history of drug use and living on the fringe.There's another mysterious visitor. At the World Tavern, the least reputable bar in Algonquin Bay, OPP officer Jerry Commanda is enjoying his regular Friday night Diet Coke with a squeeze of lemon. He meets a young red-haired woman who is unable to tell him her name, where she lives, or how she came to be there. It's not until a hospital X-ray reveals a bullet lodged in her brain that the reason for her amnesia becomes clear. That's when John Cardinal and Lise Delorme were called to take over the case.What do they find? Bikers, bizarre hieroglyphics, and a rising body count.