Nick Forte doesn't want Marshall Burton's case. Forte hates divorce work and doesn't care much for Burton, either. Still, he has bills to pay, and still has them when Burton is shot dead, apparently the innocent bystander of a drive-by. Or not. An eccentric and mysterious friend of Burton's thinks the wife had him killed and hires Forte to find out. Forte's investigation leads him back toward his musical roots, where an old friend keeps him connected, eventually leading to a plot involving both terrorists and acclaimed musicians, and Forte suffers a loss greater than he's known before.