"My name is Palladin, as in pallbearer."

Learning the skill of killing from his father at an early age, Wesley Palladin, Have Weapons Will Travel, reaches the highest level of his profession as an assassin for the mob in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, Palladin mishandles a contract and exiles himself to Twin River, where he takes a bank security job and also becomes the mentor to fourteen-year-old Matt Henry, a very troubled, violent teenager. Matt is challenged to overcome the tragedy of abuse in his past, deny his quest for revenge, and find hope in the dark, foreboding Shadows of Death that cloak Blood Mountain.

Riveting and deadly action originates in Chinatown, the Italian Market, and Bryn Mawr in Philadelphia and relocates ominously to the Twin River farmlands and mountains in Central Pennsylvania. Beset by kidnappings, wild hog attacks, extreme bullying, and unchecked brutality in a juvenile institution, violence prevails in the small mountain community.

As the body count rises, unlikely contributions from Holden Caulfield and comedian Bob Hope bring a resolution that is fearsome, unexpected, and also triumphant.