In the Stanley Valley, it's Blue State vs. Red when it comes to wolves. It's Cowboy Noir as misunderstand-ings--and fate--send reasonable people into an unreason-ing spiral. Annie Mann is for renewing the wolf packs. Against them is Wilhelm Spatz. They once shared a bed; now it's just hate. She fears his hunting camps, a cover for poaching that is denuding the land. Spatz thinks her Big Money Liberals will turn the wild and free ranges into boutique grasslands. Events come to a head when two Stanford grad students disappear. The subsequent manhunt brings in the FBI's Colby White, working with Sheriff Ben Manyhorse. But it is the Wolf Hunter, arriving from the far north, who may break open the whole situation. His gun will tip the balance--once he picks a side. And an identity.