It was a case no one wanted reopened. Seven years ago, a jury convicted lobsterman Erland Jefferts of the rape and murder of a wealthy college student and sentenced him to life in prison. For all but his most fanatical defenders, justice was served. Then while on patrol one cold March evening, game warden Mike Bowditch receives a mysterious summons. A woman has reportedly struck a deer on a lonely coast road. When Bowditch arrives on the scene, he finds blood in the road - but both the driver and the deer have gone missing. The state trooper assigned to the accident seems strangely unconcerned. And when the woman is later found brutalized in a manner that suggests Jefferts might have been framed, Bowditch receives an ominouswarning from state prosecutors to stop asking questions. For Mike Bowditch, whose own life was recently shattered by a horrific act of violence, doing nothing is not an option - even if he risks dismantling the relationship he has carefully rebuilt with his estranged girlfriend. His clandestine investigation reopens old wounds between Maine locals and rich summer residents and puts both his own life, and that of the woman he loves, in jeopardy. As he closes in on his quarry, he suddenly discovers how dangerous his opponents are and how far they will go to prevent him from bringing a killer to justice.