Something's going on in Youngstown, Ohio-and it isn't pretty. Newly assigned to the field office, Special Agent Jade Hui is stumped by her predecessor's do-nothing record when there's every indication something big is going to happen. An Aryan Brotherhood convict tells her a new designer drug from Europe is about to hit the streets of the Midwest and Youngstown will be the launching pad. Next, a female prizefighter winds up dead in a dumpster behind a bar with a shady reputation. That's only the beginning of what turns out to be, in cop slang, a full-tilt boogie with Youngstown becoming one big crime scene. Before it's over, Jade will find herself in combat with some extremely disturbing characters, including a dubious former Hollywood filmmaker, his two thugs-all three employees of the most sinister character of all, one who goes by the name "the emissary." This someone is far deadlier than anyone she ever worked a case against in the "Little Odessa" of Brighton Beach in her last posting.