Old Jake Pickett is a strange one. He can turn bullets to dust or collapse skyscrapers with his mind. But all he really wants to do with his "magic" is entertain the poor kids who live, like him, near the chemical dump. Or talk telepathically with his crippled niece, Amanda. Then a giant company decides that the only way to cover up their mess is to eliminate the people who have been affected, for better or worse, by the seeping industrial wastes. Now Jake and Amanda are running for their lives. And ours.