Summary

The novel starts with a pre-prologue entitled “The Last Guy.” In this section, the narrator tells us that Denny Malone is the last guy anyone would have expected to wind up in federal prison. Denny Malone is the son of a hero cop and is a hero cop himself. He is a veteran sergeant in the most elite unit of the NYPD, the Manhattan North Special Task Force. He and his team were responsible for the biggest drug bust in the history of the city. But Malone is also a dirty cop, and he is in federal prison, and the whole city is terrified of what he could reveal.

The prologue, entitled “The Rip,” skips back in time to July 2016. Malone and three of his men, Russo, an Italian redhead and Malone’s best friend, Bill...