Paul Kessler is a respected Tulsa attorney involved in an affair with a judge who is married to the Tulsa police chief. The night the affair ends, the judge is murdered, and her body ends up in the trunk of Kessler's car. Kessler is pulled over on a remote stretch of road by a Tulsa patrolman who clearly intends to frame him for the murder. Kessler escapes when the officer is hit and killed by a passing truck. Now the trick is to prove the police conspiracy while staying alive. Hunt, author of the well-received Maitland thrillers (Maitland, 2005, and Maitland under Siege, 2006), creates a modern noir in which the hero dips his toe in murky water and finds himself swept away in a tsunami he helped create. Kessler is a flawed narcissist, and the ego that got him in this mess is also the only trait that can help him survive as he stays steps ahead of a vengeful police chief and his corrupt henchmen.
