Charles is a bored civil servant struggling through a harsh Utah winter. He spends most of his time reflecting on his romance with Laura, a coworker who left him to return to her husband, an A-Frame salesman.

An alien creature stalks human prey.

A farmer's herd sickens and dies, then his family and neighbors fall ill, so he bucks the state agricultural establishment as he pursues the politically-explosive investigation of how his farm, family, and friends came to be poisoned.

Maggie Parker, a U.S. Senator's ambitious aide, falls head over heels for her boss' chief adversary, Michael Reynolds, a high-powered lobbyist who happens to be married with children. Both mismatched lovers become involved in a long-running affair.