Cal is a father grieving for his wife, lost to a mysterious case of rabies. As winter approaches, he must find out how she died, and protect his pups from a town that would turn them out into the cold.

Cal is a mutt with a violent past, one that he can’t seem to leave behind. As he races to find out the truth, before paranoia destroys his family, he is drawn towards a criminal empire, a ferocious gang of rats, weasels and stoats – murderers all.

Because the woodland community is fraying at the seams as rumours of infection and sickness spread like wildfire. Anyone could be rabid. Anyone could turn violent at a moment’s notice. And the local trader who should be bringing much needed supplies to the community has vanished. With a long, hungry winter ahead, and the great brown bear asleep on the mountainside, can the town overcome its fears before it destroys itself?