The Thunder & Shield Travelling Carnival exists to bring joy and merriment to small towns all across the United States. But that is not its only purpose… Within the carnival, a trio of men carry on the outfit’s more charitable pursuits. And these are no ordinary men.

Mr. Atlas—the carnival’s owner, strongman, and wrestling champion—can bend railroad spikes with his bare hands. Saul Abraham, known as Solomon the Sorcerer while performing magic shows on the carnival stage, wields a power that has little to do with sleight of hand. And Carny, the tattooed son of a gypsy fortune teller, has a strange and mysterious ability that is yet to be truly understood.

These men specialize in helping folks who have nowhere else to turn, and they are quite capable at the task. But, after arriving in a small town in upstate Ohio in early 1950, the carnival men are tested like never before. A young girl is in danger, and what at first appears to be a case of child abuse, is soon revealed to be an evil plot of demonic proportions. With the little girl’s life hanging in the balance, the strongman, the magician, and the gypsy must face impossible odds to stop a cult from completing a terrible rite, which, if completed, could bring about a global devastation not seen since the days of the Black Death.