America, 1922. Ten years have passed since The Lines went up, dividing the States and the world. The oligarchs are gangsters, titans of industry, monsters: the secret masters of mankind. They have endured a decade of cold war, but with forces equally weighted, the life of one man might be enough to change the fate of all men. US Federal Marshal Clay Falk must bring Jack Nylund to New York. For the Marshal and his deputies the financial rewards are enormous, but in a landscape of shifting loyalties Falk is soon made an offer he can't refuse. The war can be ended in a single night - the price is the honour of a legend and the life of a god. P.I. Walter Black has no idea his latest missing person case is the balance on which the world rests. Jack Nylund's sister is dying and Walter must track Jack's scent across America, through ruined lives, secret addictions and unforgettable pasts. The enemy he must overcome is one he's all too familiar with. The cost of his failure would be the death of Jack Nylund.