After a falling out with his friend Tom Donnerel, Michael befriends Madonna and Silver Brassaurd, a brother and sister who draw him into the orbit of Everette Hutch, a charismatic and violent man who ultimately leads the three youths to commit murder.

The Globe and Mail praised the novel, writing: "Like the best of Richards's works... [the book is] dark in tone, both harshly realistic and lyrically sympathetic to the most disadvantaged members of society.

"[4] The book was also reviewed favorably by the Calgary Herald, which called it "grim but beautiful,"[1] the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal,[5] and the Toronto Star.

[6] The Ottawa Citizen was more mixed, criticizing the book's "banal characterizations, awkward sentences, obvious symbols and tidy plot" but suggesting it might work well as a film adaptation.

[7] Kirkus Reviews was also negative, writing that the novel "strains both credibility and the reader’s ability to keep a straight face with this pullulating melodrama.