The crowded joys and familiar despair of poor, back-alley life in post-World War II Pittsburgh have a hold on most people there. Still, there are those who need to escape. Jeremiah Henderson and his woman, Willet Mercer, have set their sights on New York City, and Willet secretly wishes for a reunion with the little boy she abandoned in North Carolina long ago. For a time, it looks as if their dreams may come true.

But making good is easier said than done, and after a money-making scheme goes awry, Jeremiah and Willet flee Pittsburgh in a fancy new Buick, leaving a trail of blood behind them. Told over the course of five days and nights in the summer of 1950, this is an unforgettable story of crime, punishment, and loss.