In an alternate history of the American frontier where folk magic actually works, Hooch Palmer finds himself trapped in Carthage City, where things seem to have gone crazy since the rise of the man known as the “Red Prophet.” Governor William Henry Harrison throws Hooch in jail for trying to cheat him, but Hooch has a trick of his own up his sleeve - he’s a “spark,” with the ability to start fires wherever he likes. And Carthage City is going to burn!