The Dark Place finds forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver on a trail that stretches from prehistoric times -- to present danger. — A hiker in Washington State's Olympic National Park vanished eight years ago. Only a pile of bones remains -- but that's enough to go on for Gideon Oliver, the 'Skeleton Detective.' He deduces that someone, or something, of superhuman strength killed the young man -- and that the spear that killed him is identical to those used by hunters ten thousand years ago...

And now, a young woman has disappeared - and Gideon can't help but think she'll meet the same fate. To save her, he must study the sparse records of an extinct tribe of American Indians in far-off California -- and embark on a dangerous trek through North America's only rain forest....