Former police captain Ellie Cook thought she had finally learned how to live with the past. Then the Oregon coast gives up another secret.When evidence resurfaces in a long-dismissed disappearance, Ellie reopens a case that was buried for a reason. As a private investigator working the thin line between justice and survival, she uncovers a coordinated network of silence involving coastal development, private security, and officials who chose reputation over truth.Under constant pressure, Ellie navigates chronic pain, controlled addiction, and a relationship strained by danger and distance. Her partner, psychiatrist Alexa Mendoza, begins questioning whether staying in Seaside is worth the cost, while Police Chief Jesse Tran faces political threats that put everything at risk.Guided by cryptic warnings from an anonymous figure known only as The Watcher, Ellie must decide what justice looks like when there is no single villain-only a system designed to protect itself.Set along the fogbound Oregon coast, False Beacon is a slow-burn crime thriller about exposure instead of closure, love under pressure, and the price of refusing to look away.