Colonel Colin Campbell, alias Dr Richard Ames, 23rd-century writer, traveller and bon viveur, is the hero of this story. Framed for murder, married to the exquisite Gwen, fleeing for his life in the Wild West enterprise zones of the moon, he is pursued by mysterious agents of an unknown power.
Danny is only five years old, but he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of an old hotel, his visions grow out of control. Cut off by blizzards, the hotel seems to develop an evil force, and who are the mysterious guests in the supposedly empty hotel?