A chance meeting with a drug dealer named Spider takes Tom Austen into the grim streets of Vancouver's Skid Road, where he poses as a runaway while searching for information to help the police smash a gang that is hooking young kids on drugs.

Suddenly unmasked as a police agent, Tom is trapped in the nightmarish underworld of Vancouver as the gang closes in, determined to get rid of the young meddler at any cost.

" 'The coffin was open, the air black and musty all around.' Who could resist a mystery begun in such a fashion? This fast-paced tale of drug smuggling and deceit will be an instant success . . ."