In 1958, young Mickey Swager journies from Montreal to a sanatorium in the mountains with his mother and father. He's cold, literally and figuratively, surrounded by people indifferent to his plight. He has to remain at the tuberculosis sanatorium, alone and afraid.

Seventeen years later, Mickey has grown courageous and tough. He gets involved in the murder of a DEA assassin amidst drug smuggling and connections to a Buffalo, New York, crime family. Eventually, Mickey travels to Washington DC where he reconnects with the love of his life, Amelia Galante. Only one problem: her father is a Buffalo gangster.

Through tumultuous trials and dangerous escapades, Mickey never backs away from confrontation. He fearlessly stands up to criminals and dirty politicians whenever he is threatened or unjustly oppressed. Even to his own detriment, Mickey Swager is a fighter to the end.