Police chief Dutch Burton and his small force are hunting a killer they've dubbed Bule in the sleepy mountain town of Cleary, North Carolina. Five women are missing and a blue ribbon has been left near the apot where each woman was last seen. Lilly Martin, Dutch's ex-wife, has returned to Cleary to close the sale of their cabin. As she's trying to leave, her car skids and strikes a man who emergs from the woods. They's ve no choice but to wait out a brutal blizzard in the cabin, and as the hours of their confinement mount, Lilly wonders if the greatest threat to her safety isn't the storm, but the stranger beside her, Ben Tirerney. Driven by jealousy and his own demons, Dutch is determined to recue Lilly and win her back for good. But will he reach her before Blue strides again?