In 1902, Bell was young and inexperienced, but bright and energetic about his job. His boss, Van Dorn, sees great promise for him in the agency, so he increases Bell's responsibilities at a rapid pace.
Jim Higgins is a likeable fellow, active with the unionists to talk the owners into better pay, working conditions and a reasonable workload. However, his younger sister, Mary Higgins, is a sharp contrast to him and his goals. She supports a miners’ strike with radical steps and violent action. Bell meets them both while working undercover in the mine. Mary, a tall, red-haired beauty, attracts the lanky and handsome Bell in an emotional as well as intellectual manner. However, Bell fears for her safety when she sets out to sabotage the owners’ means of transporting the coal.
After it is deemed safe enough to search for missing men and boys, Bell reenters the tunnel. A shackle supposedly broke to cause the accident, and Bell is determined to locate it. He finds a broken chain link and hides it in a crevice he plans to retrieve later as evidence of sabotage.
Clive Cussler and co-author Justin Scott make certain that readers will be enthralled with their story until the end. From a green-behind-the-ears young apprentice, Bell matures and emerges as the brightest detective in the Van Dorn employ as the story progresses. We feel his empathy with the ravaged miners, perplexed owners and detectives who try to solve the puzzle. This time, elder Van Dorn also storms into action when he realises that the saboteur behind the mining calamity may have been trained as a detective by him. Together, Bell and Van Dorn search for a deeper, more sinister perpetrator, with the power, money and ambition to create the chaos they witness.