This is a good read for junior high up. Not so much for adults. It follows the building crisis facing Sig, who has been left behind with his dead father who froze while crossing an Alaskan lake. A threatening stranger shows up and wants things Sig does not have. Lots of suspense and foreboding. The peacemaker revolver is almost a character in the story. It reminds me a little of Gary Paulsen's The Rifle, another riveting story about the power of a gun. It would make a good read-aloud. Get it at the library!