In the seaside colonial city of Veracruz, Mexico, thirty-two-year-old literature professor Nicolás Nolano lives a life of ease and pleasure-and he strives to keep it that way. Though his district attorney brother has joined both the folk healer who raised them and a powerful priest in publicly crusading against the Segundo Cortez cartel, Nicolás refuses their attempts to get him involved. When two days of atrocities terrorize Veracruz, where the police and government are allied with Segundo Cortez, Nicolás must decide if he will make his stand at last. From the coastal boardwalk and cobblestone plazas of Veracruz, to the Arizona desert and streets of Santa Fe, to the northern Rockies and lakeshore towns of Montana, Nicolás endures a journey he would have never imagined. As Segundo Cortez grows by the day-murdering with reckless abandon-Nicolás is met with a monumental dilemma. Will he choose between suicidal vengeance and fighting for his beloved hometown, or pursuing a life among close friends and his newfound true love? One thing is certain: Nicolás is set to encounter the greatest surprises of his life.