The book starts out with three friends who are at a bank while it is being robbed. The first character that we meet is Ed Kennedy. His best friends Marv and Ritchie are there as well. Next we meet Audrey, who rounds out the group of four friends. The setting is a small town and none of them seem to have a life that is very fulfilling. Ed and Audrey are cab drivers. Ed lives in a small shack with his dog named "Doorman."
At the beginning, Ed did something that made him heroic, and now he is drawn into helping people in the town anonymously by a deck of cards with addresses of people who need help. He has to figure out what help they need. He sets up "surveillance" outside their houses until he can figure out what they need help with. The first house shows a drunk man abusing his wife, the second house shows a lonely widow and the third house shows a teenage girl who likes to run. Ed has to discover what he can do to be their heroes.
Whatever Ed Kennedy chooses to do or not to do will affect their lives and his forever.
