A Nation is reborn. The Dissidents, Extremists, and other Enemies have been swept away. The Second Founding has brought peace and prosperity to the nation. Ethan was only a child when the True Patriot's Party seized control of the United States, banned all religions, annihilated the old western states, and imprisoned those who dared oppose them. Ethan had a place in this better union. Until he didn't. When his brother deserts the army, Ethan and his parents are branded as dissidents and exiled to the Fringes. Even though he dreams of returning to Boston, Ethan feels that he belongs in this wasteland for the untrusted. After all, he urged Carlton to join the army in the first place. Now that his brother has been executed, Ethan resigns himself to a life trapped in the Fringes with his parent's hatred and his own guilt. When he discovers his neighbor Ravi is practicing an outlawed faith, Ethan knows what he should do if he ever hopes to escape the Fringes--he should report Ravi for the good of the country and prove his loyalty. Except, Ravi is nothing like the "monsters" he's been told about all his life. As Ravi becomes first a friend and then something much more, Ethan realizes that rebellion isn't always a grand power struggle. Sometimes, it is a simple matter of the heart.