When Walter Ratliff is released from jail in lower Manhattan on the eve of the biggest hurricane to ever make landfall in New York City, he returns to his apartment to find Cordelia, the love of his life, has abandoned him, and returned to their hometown of Acheron, Vermont. Bridges, tunnels, and airports are closed for the storm, but even as the city is inundated, Walter manages to escape with an errant police officer in pursuit of Cordelia, who he is determined to win back at all costs when he reaches Vermont. But back in Acheron, things are not quite so simple; Walter's past doesn't so much come back to haunt him as continue to haunt him in situ, and the looming specter of Henry Hoffmann, local magnate and high school rival, threatens to disrupt not just Walter's tenuous relationship with Cordelia, but his sense of home, family, and stability as well.