Giovanni Bruno was a miner - keyword, was. The mine he worked in exploded, and this led to the formation of a sort of cult around him - he was the only one to survive the incident. The cult calls themselves the Brunists, and included Giovanni, his sister, and other people that he knew.
In the prologue of the book, the Brunists claim that the End of the World is near, and they engage in a reckless drive across country roads. They are trying to escape the newspaper and television companies, who are all too interested in following their unique story. However, one of the cars slides off the road, and Giovanni's sister is killed.
The first chapter of the book jumps back in time to when the mine first exploded. On the evening of January 8th, the mine exploded, and an emergency searches the debris of the explosion. The only person they find alive is Giovanni, but he is in a coma from all of the carbon monoxide.
Readers are then introduced to the Norton family, made up of husband an wife Wylie and Eleanor. For a long time now, Eleanor has been able to talk to a spirit named Domiron. The family has to move to different houses a lot, solely because Domiron tells Eleanor to do it. Usually, he warns Eleanor when something bad is happening or is going to happen, so she becomes concerned when she is left in the dark about the incident at the mine.
Bruno is in the hospital, and has just woken up. When Eleanor finds out about his condition, she believes that he is now divine, and he should be worshipped for his power. He makes a statement that leads Eleanor, Justin Miller, and Mrs. Collins to believe that the world is about to come to an end.
Mrs. Collins' house catches on fire, most likely arson, and this calls for more attention of the Brunist cult. Justin Miller, a reporter, is forced to write a story about the incident, despite his prior neutrality. Now that the world has not ended, they believe that it will end on the Sunday after Easter.
Eventually, after the Brunists meet and basically the entire town becomes a part of the cult, but Marcella, Giovanni's sister, gets killed in the car accident referenced in the prologue of the book. The cult decides to stop meeting, and everything continues on oddly normally.
