Kansas City trial attorney Lou Mason is back...and this time, it's personal. Hired to defend the accused murderer of local lawyer and political fixer Jack Cullan, he finds himself putting everything on the line to exonerate none other than his friend and mentor, ex-cop Wilson "Blues" Bluestone, Jr.

With private files that rivaled those of J. Edgar Hoover, Cullan had the goods on any number of Kansas City high rollers, from Mayor Billy Sunshine on down. But the homicide detective on the case has it in for Blues, who faces the death penalty if he's convicted. Digging deeper, Mason unearths the kind of secrets someone will do anything to keep. And as he closes in on a desperate killer who's leaving a bloody trail through very high places, Mason may be setting himself up as the next target...