Set in Western North Carolina, it's been seven months since Daniel's cousin Sheriff Mac Allen was murdered. Daniel accepted the job as interim sheriff with hopes of finding Mac's killer. But he has few clues until Promise's irascible neighbor Fletcher Enloe stumbles upon a puzzling mining operation near Swayback Mountain and he realizes an old Vietnam buddy may not be dead after all. While Daniel and Fletcher spend a long, cold night watching the mining site from a rotted deer stand, high in an oak tree, Promise worries about Daniel and wonders how her new marriage became so different from what she'd imagined. She hadn't signed on to be a sheriff's wife, or to solve a murder. Though, she doesn't want Mac's killer to skate free either, and the wedding vows did say for better or for worse. And worse it gets when MaMa Allen tells Promise a spirit haunting Fire Mountain is leaving the mountain to prowl among the living. Promise's stepdaughter Susan, MaMa Allen warns, is in danger and it's up to Promise to do something. But, as Promise sets a trap for the spirit, a frightening thunder snow moves across Perry County and the hunted becomes the hunter, exposing just how vulnerable Susan is, and how wicked a lost soul can be. Meanwhile, another murder and a red motorcycle finally give Daniel clues to solving Mac's murder. That is, if he survives the killer's deadly game of catch-me-if-you-can.--back cover
