The story follows Steve McCord, who arrives at an isolated town called Hellmouth. The inhabitants of Hellmouth appear kind and live tranquil lives, leading McCord to initially believe he has found a paradise. He soon discovers a disturbing anomaly: the town does not exist on any map and hasn’t for sixty years. As the plot unfolds, McCord realizes he is trapped in an abyss of time, and his mind is targeted by an alien entity posing as the Finnish god Ukko, which intends to consume the entire Earth. The narrative style is less baroque than some of Petaja’s other works, focusing on a linear journey from the normal world into a realm of strangeness and conflict.
