Seventeen year-old Frankie Keilman doesn't see the world quite like everyone else in his community. Gifted with uncanny artistic ability, Frankie has heard stories of a boy who was once "sent off" because he saw what no one else could see, because he was "touched." Fearing that he is also touched, Frankie seeks to hide his gifts and is successful in doing so until he encounters Ellie McThacker, the determined daughter of a notorious bootlegger. A forbidden relationship with Ellie places him in the midst of a deadly game of extortion and deceit that could cost him everything.