Gritty and thoroughly engaging, this is the electrifying sequel to Dennis Lehane's best-selling debut novel, A Drink Before the War. Tough-talking, hard-playing Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are enjoying an Indian summer when they are called to their next case. Dr. Diandra Warren, a prominent psychiatrist believes she has inadvertently angered a powerful member of the Boston Irish mafia and asks Patrick and Angie to protect her vulnerable son from retribution. Can the detectives shield him from the thug who is not only right-hand man to the head of the Irish Mafia, but who grew up with Patrick and Angie? Can Dr. Warren's ex-husband, the most powerful district attorney in the Boston area, help to protect his estranged son? As the detectives are drawn deeper into the case, bodies begin piling up around them. The clues begin to point to an unlikely suspect--a serial killer who has been in prison for twenty years of a life sentence. Patrick and Angie must find out if he has indeed inexplicably resurfaced and what, if anything, his connection is to the people from their neighborhood.