Tiger has lost almost everything. Her village. Her community. Her father. But her brother Tarren, who has been kidnapped by the deadheads that razed her village, still lives. With only the loyal but enigmatic old man Sai to guide her into the nightmare-jungle that was once North America, Tiger must face her greatest fears in a race to save her brother before he is lobotomized, even while the world around her is bled dry by Those That Watch.

The Watchers are in the end-stages of stripping the planet of its mineral resources?but as Tiger travels deeper into the lush inner-band, she learns that a far more dangerous biological resource is being cultivated on her dying world for a war that defies human comprehension. The race to save her brother's life takes on a new dimension as she uncovers the truth about her family, the sly old man she travels with and the uncanny beings she meets on her journey.

Tiger must question the invisible threads that bind her to her world, her brother, and her hidden past?but she will also discover that she is tied to a frightening and perhaps inevitable future and that she may not control her destiny. She will come to know The Tethering.