Set in the mid nineteen eighties, this story tells of a young man, Richie Butler, a streetwise, anti-establishment character, who unknowingly becomes a witness to a serious crime. He finds himself targeted by a gang of major criminals who believe he is a danger to them and has to be eliminated.

After escaping their clutches more than once in his home town, he goes on the run, but arms himself in the process. As his pursuers get closer, he is both shocked and emboldened by events, and turns pursuer himself. With the police and the more senior gang-members now trying to stop the ever-more frantic chase, a dramatic climax is reached, by which time the line between the hunter and the hunted almost disappears.