"Paco 'Packy' Johnson spent his life in the system where he managed to make some real friends. Friends who helped him get parole, a place to stay and to adjust to a life outside bars. But only hours after his release, Paco was found dead - murdered - in the streets of the Bronx. James Beck is the ringleader of a tight clique of ex-cons based in Brooklyn's Red Hook section. He can't save Packy any longer, but he's determined to accord Packy at least some dignity and a measure of justice. But what at first appears to be a simple, if tragic, street killing, quickly becomes something much more difficult and complex. And it will take all the skills, connections, and cunning of Beck and his team not only to learn the truth but to survive the forces they've unwittingly unleashed."
