Gales of November — Aaron Stander

It has taken more than two decades, but the members of the Leiston School Winter Adventure Group of 1990 are finally reunited near their old school.

The intimate gathering opens with the renewal of old friendships at a private Lake Michigan estate near their old school. But the alcohol-fueled camaraderie soon melts away as old rivalries begin to surface, as do old secrets -- one old secret in particular. Twenty-five years ago, this group headed into an Upper Peninsula wilderness for a winter camping adventure. They ended up stranded and cut off for days by a huge winter storm. When they were finally rescued, hungry and frostbitten, their chaperone was missing and so were the facts.

Now, as the group assembles for a late morning brunch, someone else is missing. A search leads to the discovery of a body, and Ray Elkins, the local sheriff, is called in to investigate. But just like the first time, what happens at Leiston stays at Leiston, and Sheriff Elkins is greeted with hostility and a pact of silence.