It is the hottest summer in Dublin's history, and Billy Sweeney, a middle-aged salesman with a failed marriage, a faltering career, and a tumbledown suburban home, has more than the weather on his mind. His beloved youngest daughter lies in a coma in the hospital, following a vicious and mysterious attack by a gang of street thugs. Devastated by the consequences of that terrible night, frustrated by officialdom, and failed by the system, Billy finally tires of seeking legal justice. In walking the streets of a sweltering Dublin, plotting his revenge while recalling with bittersweet nostalgia the courtship of his wife, Billy Sweeney prepares himself for the violent act ahead of him. But it is not until his confrontation with the gang's leader that this suspenseful novel takes a brilliant and unexpected twist.
