In West Virginia at the In Farmington #9 mine, a methane explosion blows the top off of a mountain, killing 78 miners. Subsequently, Congress creates the Miners Enforcement Safety Agency (MESA, later renamed MEHA) to establish a standard of safety in the country's mines. Immediately, a nationwide call goes out for veteran miners to police the mines. In the fiercely-independent Appalachian coalfields in the poorest locale in America--the same coal fields that drove out the United Mine Workers Union--recruiting inspectors is next to impossible, finding ones who will stand up to the mines' lawbreakers is impossible. The impossible appears when AB Stahill, a refugee seeking vindication for cowardice and determined to find retribution for his father's death and the derangement of his boyhood friend, returns home. MESA becomes a road to redemption that will bury a haunting past. Redemption lures AB to the largest mine and biggest abuser of MESA laws-the Skotos Mine--a time bomb waiting for ignition. But before he can get at the Skotos Mine, he must deal with a wife and child he deserted and a younger brother whom he betrayed. The catalyst for retribution is Bobby Chester, deformed and deranged from a mine cave in. Retribution's mule is Angus Taggart, the mine foreman promoting himself on the misfortune of others. The three principals vie for dominance in Appalachia's raw setting, until a fourth principal they feared since childhood claims them.