New York in the 1940s was a wide-open town. In the city of Swing Street, Frank Costello, and the Stork Club, everything was for sale, including its people. Into this arena steps Patrick Grimes, a World War II veteran who works the graveyard shift for the New York Examiner, one of the city’s brassiest tabloids. Late one night, Grimes learns that a watchman has found the body of a young woman in a squalid section of tenements and breweries by the East River, and races over to investigate. The victim turns out to be Amanda Price, the eldest daughter of one of Manhattan’s wealthiest men. Grimes can’t help but wonder what would draw such a woman to that part of town.

The watchman who found her is arrested for her murder, and confesses, but Grimes is convinced it’s a forced confession and the man is truly innocent. He begins an investigation into Amanda Price’s life and death, uncovering truths that jeopardize not only his life, but also his sanity. Along the way, he traverses a dizzying world that offers endless possibilities that are tempting, dangerous and—for some people—overwhelming.