A family is undone by the disappearance of a daughter who goes out for a morning run and does not come back.
Descent follows the Courtland family after Caitlin vanishes in the Rocky Mountains. The disappearance sends each member down a different path as they confront fear, guilt, grief, and the question of how long a family can keep searching.
The novel combines literary fiction with the urgency of a suspense story, using the landscape of the Rockies as a powerful presence in the narrative.