Eccentric amateur photographer Mandy Valems dreams of life beyond her seemingly mundane Cape Breton town. Still reeling from the death of her older brother in a peculiar car accident, she spends all her time at the notorious Sydney Tar Ponds hazardous waste site. Everything changes when Mandy meets Alecto. A cynical, depressed chain-smoker with an affinity for super 8 filmmaking, Alecto gives her the opportunity to rebel against everything holding her back... but her new best friend has a dark past and an even darker future, and she might be the only one who can help him. The Smog City books tell an often harrowing tale, but friendship prevails between two individuals trying to survive unimaginable grief, nostalgia and loss.