The year is 1950. The place is Starville, a tiny hamlet in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, where tranquility reigns . . . until evil walks in. This happens because a rather good man, VINCE GREENRAY, who ran away from home when he was fifteen, returns to the hamlet in an attempt to find refuge from the law. He's wanted for a California murder he didn't commit. Close on his heels comes the real killer, HUMPHREY BALZAK, whose agenda is straightforward-he needs to get rid of Vince permanently to prevent him from telling the truth. Much of the story is presented as seen through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old resident of Starville, ROY GREENRAY, the nephew of Vince. Like most boys, he dreams of being involved in high adventure and derring-do, one of his screen heroes of the time being Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe, private investigator. But when the daydreaming becomes reality, can Roy handle it? Although a fourteen-year-old boy is featured, this story is by no means intended for young readers. It is a hard-edged adventure thriller with a unique and little-explored setting: an authentic 1950's hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada-very much like the one in which the author grew up.