Amos Walker, the quintessential hardboiled detective, is mortal after all. Jeff Starzek, an old friend who smuggles cigarettes for a living, saved Amos Walker's life, bringing him to a hospital after Walker took a bullet to the leg. A month later, Walker, still convalescing, gets a panicked phone call from Starzek's sister. Jeff is missing and the leads are few. One lead is Home-land Security agent H. Clemson. The Fed also seeks Starzek, whom he believes may be working for a counterfeiting operation with ties to terrorists. Though Walker doubts Starzek is a terrorist, he finds blank treasury paper at an evangelical church belonging to Starzek's brother. Then Starzek's brother disappears too. Back to square one, Walker follows his best hunch, driving Starzek's usual cigarette route along the Lake Huron shore, and finally gets a solid lead on the paper hangers. But before Walker can break the case, someone tries to shoot him-and he's accused of murder. In the end, Walker will need all of his fortitude to stay alive long enough to figure out who's doing what to whom, in time to save his friend's life.