"It s 1967. The world is rocking, and Neil is growing up fast. I have this annoying problem that gives me a lot of trouble- a conscience. Neil Bridges attends a Catholic boys school in which teachers rule with iron fists and thick leather straps. Some crumble under the pressure but Neil toughs it out, just as his Vietnam-bound older brother has done before him. He has to be a man, after all. But at sixteen, how can he be sure of himself when he s not sure of anything else? He loses a friend and finds another, falls in love and unwittingly treads a path that leads to revenge and possibly murder . . ."