In the Arctic north during the Gold Rush, Sig's father died in an unusual accident: he tried crossing the ice at a time when he knew it was dangerous and when he could have just taken a slightly longer route around it. The ice broke and he fell in, then froze to death after managing to pull himself back out.
Now Sig's sister and step-mother have gone to town for help--so Sig is alone in their cabin when someone knocks at the door. It's a giant of a man who turns out to be both armed and short-tempered. He's there to demand the gold that Sig's father supposedly cheated him out of.
Sig doesn't know anything about any gold--he couldn't believe his father had any when they lived so modestly. But this stranger doesn't believe him, and has no compunctions about using violence to say so.
So when Sig's sister returns home, Sig finds himself wondering about the gun that his father owned and showed him how to use, over his wife's objections. It's in a box in the next room, but it's old and probably not loaded, and Sig has only fired a gun once.
The prose in Revolver is lean and the story clips along, with every second chapter a flashback which only increases the tension rather than serving as a respite. And though it's a short book and a quick read, the story presents some deep issues as Sig struggles to find a solution to his predicament: eventually he must decide if there's any way he and his sister can survive while honoring his mother's commitment to pacifism....
