A telephone ringing in the dead of night signals the beginning of a journey into fear as MaryAnne Carpenter hears the shocking news: her friends the Wilkensons are suddenly, inexplicably dead, their only child, MaryAnne's godchild, abruptly orphaned and dependent on her. Even as MaryAnne rushes to embrace her young charge the disturbing questions mount. Was it a tragic mishap that took their lives - or murder? As winter closes in on the majestic ranch where the young family lives, the darkness and danger of nature and the unimaginable evil around them seem to work in tandem. An insatiable and brutal killer is closer than they could ever have imagined.