Tod and Buz have just started their first seven day shift living and working on an oil rig along the Gulf coast, just offshore from Venice, Louisiana. The work is well paying but physically demanding. They are rooming in a four-man dorm, which includes another new man, Frank Bartlett. Bartlett is somewhat out of place among the men - older, and a bit of a loner, which is not easy to be in such confined quarters. Tod also notices that his behavior is somewhat odd, like he is hiding something, especially as he insists on keeping his personal belongings with him, instead of in the locker room down the hall. Tod eventually discovers clandestinely that Bartlett is looking for someone on the rig, Tod not knowing who or for what purpose, although it has to do with being in a concentration camp during WWII. Tod also learns directly from Bartlett that he doesn't know who the man he is searching for is either beyond some sample handwriting, the man's approximate age, and his eye color. Whether they like it or not, Tod and Buz are caught up in Bartlett's on-rig life, despite he not totally confiding in them. But as Bartlett hunts for his man, his man obviously knows who Bartlett is. As such, Bartlett, and by association Tod and Buz, become the hunted.
—Huggo