Like many smallish and inelegant towns that dot the coastlines and crossroads of this country, Shean's postwar, post-industrial economy is in desperate disrepair, and the lengths that some civic leaders will go to in order to do "what's best" for a town like Shean sometimes requires a leap of faith that has unintended consequences. When a global corporation plans a daring scheme to exploit the remaining coal from an improbable source – and thus to secure Shean's economic future – politicians try to marginalize the few voices of dissent. Some voices, however, are not easily silenced.
