Summary

The last two chapters constitute the final part of the novel, called “Afterlife.” The first chapter is a short script between Meredith Culver, a news anchor, and Ty Slater, the network’s expert on the energy industry. The pair tells the viewers, and the reader, that Dark Elephant has fired CEO and founder Kip in the midst of a legal scandal and a brush with bankruptcy.

The final chapter of the novel takes place as the drilling has abruptly ended. The rigs and the men are leaving town. Mickey Phipps flies back home right away, and Herc does soon afterwards. Jess received a letter in the mail explaining that Herc has a wife and kids back in Texas, so she has stopped responding to his calls.

Herc’s wife Colleen picks him up at the airport and tells him that Mickey is getting...