In San Francisco, a black lawyer is mistaken for a killer and lynched by whites. A white bystander trying to save him by cutting the rope is photographed holding a knife and portrayed by a newspaper as the mob's leader. The city explodes into violence, politicians outdo each other calling for retribution and a decent man runs for his life.

When Dismas Hardy agrees to clean up the caseload of recently disappeared attorney Charlie Bowen, he thinks it will be easy. But one of the cases is far from small-time--the sensational clash between National Guard reservist Evan Scholler and an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor named Ron Nolan. Two rapid-fire events in Iraq conspired to bring the men into fatal conflict: Nolan's relationship with Evan's girlfriend, Tara, a beautiful school-teacher...

The Curtlees are the most powerful family in San Francisco, unscrupulous billionaires who have lined every important pocket in the Bay Area in pursuit of their own ascent. So when the family's heir, Ro Curtlee, was convicted of rape and murder a decade ago, the fallout for those who helped to bring him to justice was swift and uncompromising. The jury foreman was fired from his job and blacklisted in his industry. The lead prosecutor was pushed off...