When Karly wanders outside her mountain cabin into the snowstorm to see why her dog is going nuts, she’s expecting an injured animal, not a muscular mammoth of a man who’s unconscious and about to freeze to death if she doesn’t drag him inside and try to tend his wounds. He’s wearing only a few pieces of fur-and-leather armor—cosplayer or insane mountain man?—and his wild hair and beard haven’t seen a pair of scissors in a year or more. But when he wakes up and opens those amber-hazel eyes, Karly’s too caught off guard to protest his lack of appropriate clothing.

He doesn’t speak English, so Karly uses her skills as a foreign language teacher (and a lot of charades) to teach him. She needs to figure out who he is, why he’s dressed like a Skyrim character, what happened to him, and where he belongs so she can get him home.

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life’s ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny’s wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoë, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody.