When 16-year-old Weldon Avery Holland encounters the notorious Bonnie and Clyde in his Texas hometown, the course of his young life is altered forever. He dedicates himself to fighting evil wherever he finds it.

But it's the 1930s and evil is sweeping the globe as the Nazis rise. When war breaks out, Holland finds himself in Germany, irrevocably scarred by scenes of death and destruction.

Peacetime brings apparent bliss, and Holland is offered a path to wealth and luxury by the enigmatic 'Wayfaring Stranger'. But soon, he discovers that the greed, violence and ruthlessness of war are nothing compared to the depths of human cruelty at play here.

"Burke is, for me, one of the great American novelists - in any genre. In more than 30 novels over four decades, he has demonstrated repeatedly that he is a supreme storyteller and among the finest writers of contemporary prose ... the story is a visceral excoriation of the darkest side of the American dream, and asks the complicated question: can a good man ever defeat evil with goodness alone?" - DAILY MAIL