Colli Polanski lives with his family in the mining town of Coalville they are poor and don’t have much in the way of a life. One day while there father Balti once more comes home drunk after squandering his hard earned pay starts to beat up his wife after she had asked for some money to buy food, he goes into a rage, Colli sick with his father’s actions plunges a bread knife into his back he falls on top of Colli and he cannot move the others pull their father from on top of Colli and he climbs out. “What have you done Colli you have killed your father.” His mother pleads “He deserves it” Colli replies now they have to leave Coalville before the police find out, so they gather what belongings they can and in the dead of night leaves Coalville for good travelling by night and trying to hide during the daytime, on the second day they come across a barn and sneak inside and up to the hayloft to hide. But the farmer catches one of the young children and is trying to get him out from behind a stack of wood when Colli appears and says he is with me, the farmer asks how many they are and the mother appears with a pitchfork and threatens the farmer, he takes pity on the family and takes them inside the farmhouse where is daughter Dottie is making breakfast they feed them and Colli says he has to head north to hide from the police and asks the farmer to look after the family has he police are only after him. Colli vows one day to repay the farmer for looking after his family. Colli gets a lift with a truck driver who himself left home after his father beat him and takes pity on Colli and befriends him, but not to arouse suspicion he changes his name to Jason and later takes the surname of the drive who befriends him, but later on he has to tell the truth as circumstances dictate him having to divulge his past and change his name to Jason. The driver whose name is Jess Harper takes him to a town his girlfriend lives where the girl's brother Garry owns a detective agency he trains Colli and gives a job he becomes very good at his job, then the brother makes him a partner and in his discoveries finds out who killed the brother and sisters' parents in a hit and run on Christmas eve six years earlier. His life is crossed with tragedy secrets and backhand dealings, while doing a routine investigation into a unexplained death of a young girl, Colli is sent by Garry to see a friend of his who has information into unsolved crimes, on the way he sees a roadside transport stop where he and Jess Harper happened to stop on the way north, where a lady was nice to him, called Sophie, Colli turns around and stops hoping to thank her for her kindness, while waiting in the queue he enquire’s about the lady, when a load mouth trucker abuses her name and Colli takes offence at his attitude and smashes a bottle over his head, the trucker produces’s a knife and slashes Colli’s face, but then a patrol officer threatens the trucker and puts a gun to his head, the trucker vows to get Colli later and leaves, this is when Colli teams up with patrol officer, named David Lansdown who through the story helps him solves one case, and becomes a real friend and together they come across a lot of dealings where the Falkirk family are involved in some way, Colli falls for the lovely Nadya but cannot commit as he has had no training in love, after having to suffer the traumas of life living in the same house as his father. He uncovers corruption in the chief of police in a town named Stanton, where he is threatened and ran out of town for asking questions,