Days after claiming he had a lead on a story that would make Watergate look like a misdemeanor, a mediocre writer from the Washington Post is found accidentally drowned. But Joe DeMarco's boss-the Speaker of the House-thinks there's nothing accidental about it. Mostly because the reporter was on the trail of Senator Paul Morelli. Morelli is all but a shoe-in for the Democratic presidential nomination. But his golden boy public persona hides a monstrous character. Somehow, all of his sinister scandals seem to be cleaned up by a mysterious benefactor who stays just out of sight. Setting up a sting to catch the predatory Morelli, DeMarco thinks his job is done-until those who helped him with the sting start turning up dead. And unless he can uncover the powerful people who are protecting Morelli, DeMarco knows he's next . . .