It's Dan Finbar's freshman year and he's struggling to find his proper place in Harrison College. When he finally breaks through into the world of notorious loner Ransom Seaborn, their friendship is brutally cut short, leaving Finbar with nothing but Ransom's old leather journal and his sometime girlfriend Maggie. As Finbar and Maggie investigate the journal--and Ransom's soul--their discoveries illuminate the dark depths of the human heart and they find that what glitters is indeed sometimes gold.