The novel takes the name from the poem, "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" by Dylan Thomas.

The main characters include Kate, a high school student driving the bus, Miro, one of the terrorists, and Ben, the son of a general holding a senior position in "Inner Delta"; a government anti-terrorism organization.

Odd Chapters The first narrator, Ben Marchand, is a teenager who is the son of a general commanding an anti-terrorism unit.

The perspective switches from Ben to his father, General Mark Marchand, who left his son's room after a brief conversation and came back to find it empty.

The general attempts to call back Ben in order to ask for forgiveness for making use of his sensitive son's perceived vulnerability when used as a go-between with the terrorists.

He and three other terrorists, Artkin, Antibbe, and Stroll hijack a bus full of preschoolers on a trip to school camp.

Kate, stunned by the savagery shown when one of the terrorists dances holding the dead child above his head, is determined to escape.

Ben is briefly tortured and gives the terrorists misleading information as to the timing of a planned rescue attempt, which his father had deliberately passed to him.