In 1953 Pierce Duncan leaves college as an innocent and sets off to see America. His road trip will take him from the savagery of a Georgia chain gang to a wild ride through Texas to the darkest side of the Las Vegas fight game - and, finally, to San Francisco, the far end of the world. Along the backstreets and freight lines Dunc will meet beautiful women, dangerous men, and murder. And in California, home of the lost and the outcast, he will join up with the dynamic head of a private investigation agency. Here he will learn everything about being a man - and about brutal betrayal.