Thomas, brutal and savvy, didn't become wealthy by playing by the rules or kowtowing to authority. Felix, smart but green, still believes in the integrity of law and order...and he believes solving this case may be his ticket out of his dying hometown.

Felix must team up with seasoned detective Adam Shaffer to hunt the killer. Their investigation leads them into the past-when Thomas and his coal company owned the town, and when the riches beneath the surface belonged to anyone ruthless enough to claim them. Thomas made a multitude of enemies in those lawless days, and perhaps a few followed him into the present to exact their revenge.

Set in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt in the 1970's, Felix's faith in his institutions is shaken when the killer reveals a difficult truth: the rich and powerful rarely pay for their own sins, and vengeance can sometimes look uncomfortably like justice.