When retired army investigator Talia L’Amore receives a terrified call from a young woman, she travels to Echuca expecting nothing more than mud, mosquitoes, and a bad grade in geography. She does not expect the river to whisper her name. A strange pulse beneath her skin reveals a truth buried for generations: Talia is the last Guardian, heir to a shattered heart that once held the world together, and to the ancient Voice that broke it. Now the river is rising, the First Voice is waking, and the only barrier between the world and another flood is a woman who never asked to save anything. With fierce Nari Ka, big hearted Tristan, and sharp eyed Patrick, Talia must cross a bush that remembers every secret, face a Collector who is more victim than villain, and walk the Path of Echoes, where the river keeps its past and its warnings. The heart doesn’t want to be restored. The Voice doesn’t want to be destroyed. And Talia must choose not between good and evil, but between futures. The flood is coming. The river is listening. The Guardian has awakened.