Brian Jameson left behind a world of chaos—vicious Stalkers, ruthless survivors, and an unforgiving landscape of bitter cold and snow—and escaped to an idyllic island paradise with the love of his life. But now he must abandon everything he fought for and return to the warped remnants of America, land of the lost and the home of the depraved.

His sizzling affair with hotheaded Cajun Louis Lavellé came to a boil when Louis's secrets surfaced: among them, the fact that he left his sister in the clutches of a twisted, infected psychopath and let Brian think she was dead. Unable to bear Louis's betrayal or the enigma of Eva's fate, Brian flees the island—without Louis—and returns to New Orleans to begin his search for the missing girl.

If Brian can find his friends, gregarious D and her badass brother, Antoine, he thinks he might have a shot of fighting his way back to Eva's last known location. But the Stalkers haven't died out—in fact, they're exhibiting frightening new patterns of behavior. And memories of Louis continue to torment Brian…along with the strong probability that Louis hasn't forgotten him either.

Hopes and fears of reuniting with the Lavellé twins drive Brian as he navigates through familiar but shifting surroundings and obstacles. Sweltering heat has melted the snow, revealing once-buried horrors and allowing both Stalkers and other survivors to emerge from hiding. Everything Brian thought he knew about this warped world is shaken by mounting revelations, and each one chips away at his hopes for a happy ending.

But at this point, he doesn't even know what his version of a happy ending could be.