After the death of his husband, Ethan Marris leaves New York for Washington, D.C., hoping to begin again. He accepts a position as Compliance Officer at St. Jerome's Medical Center, once considered the region's most prestigious hospital. Around him, America's healthcare system is struggling to rebuild after a political movement dismantled decades of federal oversight.
St. Jerome's was among the first hospitals to deploy GEORGE, an artificial intelligence designed to oversee research ethics as the healthcare system adapted to a new regulatory framework. As Ethan settles into his new role, he uncovers anomalies and cryptic clues left behind by his predecessor. She wasn't leaving him answers. She was leaving him a trail, and every time Ethan follows the trail, GEORGE glitches.
As Ethan is drawn deeper into the hospital's secrets, he finds himself caught between two dangerous men: Dr. Marcus Bell, whose charm is as irresistible as it is unsettling, and Julian Reed, the CEO of the company that helped build GEORGE. The deeper Ethan digs, the clearer it becomes that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried. Trusting one could give Ethan the life he thought he'd lost. Trusting the other could prove fatal.