He skins his victims alive, taking pleasure from their pain. In the cold, dark nights of Alaska, a hunter is stalking his prey. Once found, he takes them into the woods and skins them alive, prolonging the experience as much as he can, but the satisfaction always wanes. Aislinn Cain and the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit have just finished up another case when they get the call. Now they are packing their bags and heading for Alaska in March. The team must overcome the hostile locals and harsh climate to catch a killer before he steals the life of another woman.

It was pity that first made Dannie speak to him. She had known Ryan since she was a kid, but he had always been the popular Golden Boy, and she had always been the tomboy that didn’t mind not having any friends. It was odd, she had thought, that all the popular kids who had once kissed the ground he walked on, didn’t so much spared him a glance anymore, and it was this that made her sit with him that one faithful day and begin something that would only end up causing her pain.

Sylva lives her life in constant fear of death: not her own fear, but that of the people around her. Frail and afflicted with a variety of different illnesses, she spends most of her time in bed at home, majority of it with her best friend, Marcus, and her parents. Every night, one of them sleeps with her. They never told her so, but they're scared that when they wake up, she won't wake with them. Sylva knows she is dying. She has grown used to the idea of it. But will she have to leave without getting what she's always wanted? Will she let her love for her friend keep her from living the best life she could hope for?