It's a frigid winter in Minnesota, but detective Jake Hines has bigger problems than keeping warm. The body of a man, nearly naked and frozen solid, is discovered at a highway overpass. The victim is identified as a local trucker shot through the head, leaving Jake with the following questions: where is the man's truck and his missing partner?

The truck is later found, complete with an unusual spattering of blood; then police locate the body of the other trucker. As Hines probes the last days of these two men and the relationships they had with family and friends, a strange dichotomy begins to emerge, as well as a grim picture of betrayal, greed and fear. But for Jake, solving a murder is a lot like playing cards -- figure out who's bluffing and who's got the perfect hand, especially when one of the players is a cold killer.