Jake Hansen, an award-winning Investigative Journalist turned Private Eye, has spent seven years trying to forget all he has lost, drowning his sorrows in booze, women and gambling. Fired from The Times for releasing a killed story about the cartels in Los Angeles, Jake has opened a dive bar with his two best friends: Pete Mills, a retired NYPD detective and Lamont Wagner, an ex-con formerly sent to prison by Pete Mills. Jake has lost his career, his wife (now married to the Mayor of Los Angeles), his self-respect and has hit rock bottom.

Jake has removed himself from the investigative world but an old employer, Ed Tall Mountain, a big shot of the Indian Casinos in Palm Springs, hires Jake and his pals to find his missing daughter, Mckenna. Following her footsteps and utilizing the talents of Pete and Lamont, Jake uncovers clues in the dive bars of Hermosa Beach, the night clubs of Hollywood and the underground after-hours sex clubs of Koreatown. Jake unearths Mckenna’s path and discovers she’s learned that a declared ‘dead’ Mexican Cartel Captain, is very much alive and Mckenna is on the run. Jake now finds himself investigating the very story that led to his fall from grace: The Drug Cartels influence on Los Angeles Law Enforcement and local government.

The reappearance of Dario Mendoza, the not dead Captain, threatens to destroy twenty years of Underworld peace in Los Angeles. The investigation takes them into the dark corridors of some of the dirtiest elements of Los Angeles as they discover a burgeoning drug war over the agreement that has kept the peace amongst rival gangs. Jake and his friends encounter a Sri Lankan hit man, a longtime Korean Mob Boss, political intrigue and wind up in the middle of a turf war with their friends and loved ones in the crossfire.

As Jake peels the layers of a conspiracy, the trail to Mckenna Tall Mountain leads him and his ragtag team to the High Desert and 29 Palms and a stand-off with multiple factions. But Jake and his team have one goal and that’s to find Mckenna and bring her to safety. Along the way, Jake will rediscover his passion for his life and job and find his long-lost self-respect.