Dennis Lahane, the poet laureate of Boston's working class, is back with private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Initially they resist a missing child case, but 80 hours have passed since her disappearance and not a single clue has turned up. At the behest of the child's aunt, Kenzie and Gennaro join in the hunt--in a search that will tear into their souls and those of all involved.