Ray finds himself in a moral debacle when a joy ride on a stolen motorbike ends in the inadvertent death of an old woman. Nobody sees the accident, and the teenager resolves to ignore his conscience and keep the transgression to himself. However, when reports of the incident begin to circulate in local newspapers, the incessant talk of the town eventually makes Ray vulnerable to the convictions of his own conscience. He is soon obliged to choose between guilt and his budding teenage life, or confession to the police in this stunning and heartfelt psychological novel.