Alan Sweetcheeks, a self-described very nice convicted killer, lands on parole in Boon, a small Alaska town. It is 1951. He reports at once to an eccentric benefactor, who helps him find a job. When he calls, as required by his conditions of parole, on Boon's district attorney, he falls under the spell of Darlene, the D.A.'s receptionist, who, unfortunately for him, already has a boyfriend. In a gallant attempt to be of help to Darlene, Alan insults Boon's crime boss, a woman named Cal. Cal has him beaten and left unconscious in the snow. Alan's vow for revenge advances when he learns Cal is hiding money from the IRS, but he doesn't learn where she is hiding it until after he has had a fling with one of Cal's seductive young employees. Darlene discovers that dalliance, and Alan's hopes for a relationship closer than friendship with her fly out the window. But he succeeds with his crime, and then he must escape from Boon with his loot. Who, he asks, can be a better help in his escape than Darlene, the lovely receptionist of Boon's chief law-enforcement officer?