Set in 1940s Mexico, the story follows a young man drawn into a violent spectator sport that tests his loyalties amidst a backdrop of societal conflict. As he navigates the brutal world of competition, he faces critical choices that will impact not only his future but also the fate of his city. The novel explores themes of violence, loyalty, and the struggle for identity in a tumultuous era.
Nolan Jackson is a journeyman carpenter by trade and an itinerant by nature. While fellow Americans fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, he builds tract homes across the west of America, travelling between jobs. Following a shocking workplace accident in his temporary home of Las Vegas, he uproots himself from the relationships he has made to head west towards the ocean. On his way he passes through his brother's town and is forced to stay put after an unexpected accident. Bereft of his car and his tools, with only the little-used and much-neglected mechanisms of his heart, Nolan turns to the task of building the foundations of a meaningful life.