Cleary, North Carolina is a sleepy mountain town. But not so lately. Chief Dutch Burton and his police force have been frantically searching for a killer dubbed Blue, so called for his habit of leaving a blue ribbon near the spot where each of four young women was last seen. No other clues, no bodies, and no suspects. And now another woman has disappeared without a trace.

Lilly Martin, Dutch's ex-wife, has returned to Cleary to sell their mountain cabin, marking the end of their turbulent eight-year marriage. But as she's trying to outrun a snowstorm, her car skids on the icy road and strikes a man who emerges from the woods on foot. They've no choice but to wait out the storm in the cabin, but as the hours of their confinement mount, Lilly begins to wonder if the greatest danger to her safety isn't the blizzard outdoors, but the mysterious man right beside her...