Hank Small is an everyman, has a loving wife and two kids, a dog that greets him at the door every time he comes home. He's got an estranged half-brother named Earl, and an always-in-trouble nephew named Bill. What he's got are the makings of a pretty good life, one he's contented to follow in its course.

Now he's got Bill, who's in more trouble than ever before over a little group he's joined called the Disaster Club. He's got someone he knows only as the Fat Man calling the shots, and a truly nasty piece of work named Snake ready to kill him and his family before lunch. He's got a reputation that's ruined, no home to return to... and Hank Small's got nowhere to turn but his brother.