Peter's sister Ellie has always had his back. So of course, now that he's learning to use his wheelchair in a polio rehabilitation ward under the eyes of his well-meaning parents, it's Ellie who offers to help him escape, no matter what the doctors order.
But on the day they're scheduled to leave, Ellie doesn't show. Then Peter gets a phone call. Ellie is still in Canmore, a nearby mining town, and the police won't let her leave.
She's a suspect in a murder investigation.
Determined to clear his sister's name, Peter makes his own way to Canmore—even if that puts him square in the path of a murderer. Because tensions between the miners and the establishment run deep, and soon Peter's sure the town is harboring a monster—one who targets those who won't step in line.