"'... though there is no fixed line between wrong and right, There are roughly zones whose laws must be obeyed.' It is New Year's Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the National Transportation Safety Board unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement...

When the body of a man shot gangland style is found in the wreckage of a mid-air collision in the Alaskan wilderness, Kate Shugak, as the investigation reaches to the highest levels of the government, is determined to find the truth, risking her life and the lives of those she loves most.