He's a man whose life is so intertwined with his job that we know him only as the columnist. He writes for a newspaper in Seattle, isn't afraid to stir up trouble and keeps his life - including his multiple lovers and his past - in safe compartments. It's all about to be violently upended when he goes out on what seems like the most mundane of assignments, looking into a staid company that never makes news. But from the moment one of his sources takes a dive off a downtown skyscraper, the columnist is plunged into a harrowing maze of murder, intrigue and secrets that powerful forces intend to keep hidden at all costs.