Hob Idlewild's parents had high hopes for him, but then they were arrested, and he never saw them again. Now 35, Hob sleeps on a mattress on the floor of his run-down apartment and knows his home of Rutledge, NY inside and out. That includes where to avoid, an isolated community on the outskirts, called Skunk Town. Their leader, the Rat King, a terrifying figure hidden behind night vision goggles, isn't helping that perception. After Hob receives a clue to the long dormant mystery of his parents' deaths, he's forced to face Skunk Town. But there's a deeper layer to the story-one the police want to make sure Hob never discovers, and soon he realizes he risks sharing his parents' fate unless he can stand up to the powerful forces allied against the townspeople and expose them to the world.