Pittsburgh crime reporter Rita Locke is investigating the murder of a funeral director when she learns he'd been burying empty coffins. Delving into his secrets, she uncovers a sinister plot of international proportions that takes her from western Pennsylvania to an offshore Caribbean medical school, where she becomes entangled in a web of deception that leaves her fighting for her life. It's only when she ends up in a box herself, struggling to breathe, that she finally discovers the truth about a sophisticated body-selling scheme - but will she live to write about it?