A brutal regimen of downsizing has shut down steel production and eliminated two-thirds of a Rocksburg, Pennsylvania factory's workforce -- a policy enforced by steel magnate J.D. Lyons. If Lyons accomplished his business objectives, he has since paid the ultimate price. For J.D. Lyons has just been found dead in the trunk of his Jaguar.The list of suspects is the size of the Rocksburg phone book.

What begins as a singular homicide suddenly becomes a swath of murderous violence that touches the ranks of the local union hierarchy, threatens public order, and confounds all investigatory logic.This won't be an easy case for Detective Ruggiero "Rugs" Carlucci, and it's coming at a tough crossroad in his life. His always difficult mother has officially been deemed a threat to herself and others. And for the first time, he finds himself falling in love.Through the hearts and voices of one fictional city, Constantine has created a tour de force that touches the American nerve at its most explosive, authentic, and surprising.