When the murder of Martin Luther King plunges Washington into chaos and the entire city is ablaze, the lives of everyone become entangled in a tragic web...
Derek Strange grows up with admiration for the police and love for his black brothers. Thus, he ends up becoming a police officer himself, while his brother, Dennis Strange, grows up with a disability pension and no prospects for improving his life. He is a man with good intentions but bad habits. Derek always took care of his brother, but now brotherly love won't be enough to save him from the dangerous world of Alvin Jones, a criminal who drags him into his dark web.
While the rookie police officer roams a city plunged into chaos, Frank Vaughn tries to unravel the mystery of the murder of a young black man. His personal life is on the edge, but his police instinct won't let him rest until he finds the culprit.
Two police officers trying to do their job while a violent uprising rages around them; two paths that meet in an explosion of adrenaline, in the most powerful book by George Pelecanos, the top author of contemporary noir.