In his most original and compelling book yet, Andrew Vachss presents an electrifying tale of corruption in a devastated mill town. It is 1959--a moment in history when the clandestine, powerful forces that will shape America to the present day are about to collide.Walker Dett is a hired gun, known for using the most extreme measures toaccomplish his missions. Royal Beaumont is the "hillbilly boss"who turned Locke City from a dying town into a thriving vice capital. But organized crime outsiders are moving in onBeaumont's turf,so he reaches out forDett in a high-risk move to maintain his power at all costs. Adda rival Irish political machine, a deeply entrenched neo-Nazi "party", the nascent black power movement, turf-disputing juvenile gangs, a muck-raking journalist who doubles as a blackmailer, the FBI--a covertobserver and occasional participantwhich may itself be under surveillance-- and Locke City is about as stable as anitroglycerintruck stalled on the railroad tracks.