Set against the icy, stark beauty of rural New Hampshire, brothers Dave and Tom Holden's fates suddenly change when Dave, just barely an adult himself, watches his little brother Tom, take yet another brutal beating from their father. Tom is always bearing the brunt of his father's anger, and Dave cannot handle it anymore. Without contemplating the consequences, one night Dave does the unthinkable. To protect his brother, he murders his father. But the pattern continues even after the murder - in the wake of their father's death, Tom volunteers once again to take the fall. Since he is a minor, if Tom is to blame for the murder, his brother will not have to go to prison for the rest of his life and he will only have to serve a juvenile sentence. While Tom serves his sentence, Dave is left alone in the house with only his ghosts and his father's endless debts. Even as he falls in love with compassionate Rachel, he now finds himself drawn to a secret life of violence and lies.