Henry Bowman is the principal character, although the story begins in 1906, long before Bowman's birth on January 10, 1953. The story is told primarily from his perspective when he is in his early forties. Bowman grows up in the St. Louis, Missouri area, where much of the story takes place. He is a trained geologist, a self-taught expert marksman, a firearms, ammunition, and self-defense authority, and a pilot. Bowman lives on a rural acreage near the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. There is an abandoned stone quarry on his land which Bowman uses for recreational shooting. Bowman, in the novel, enjoys owning performance automobiles and driving at high speed on interstate highways. In one part of the novel, he races his hot-rodded GMC truck against a rival Porsche, with Bowman winning, driving in excess of to win. Bowman also has several forged identities that he uses for various purposes in the novel. Bowman is a proficient skydiver.