Roo Glover has two highly desirable talents - he can fight, and he can run like the clappers.

In the inner-city's harsh code there are losers and survivors, and Roo's a survivor. He's made it through foster care, juvenile detention and poverty. He's an athlete, aching towards the dream of Olympic qualification. He's even coping with being white in the turbulent Aboriginal family of his girlfriend. But when cousin Stanley dies in custody, and Roo finds his father in the same week, trouble starts biting at his heels.