On the snowy streets of Christmas Chicago, the young heroes of the novel “Penance” offer professional caresses to respectable fathers of families at a reasonable price. With truly Dickensian gentle humor, the author draws these touchingly vicious boys and girls. They have no idea what a terrible fate awaits them when they trustingly get into the car of a stalwart man named Dwight Morris. And this madman has long passed a verdict: the children of the city outskirts must accept punishment from above, penance, for his unfulfilled life. So let them burn in the purifying fire! Will the devil’s plan really succeed? Or, as often happens around Christmas, will the forces of good in the person of a servant of God win? Only the last pages of this fascinating story will answer these questions.