New York City politics have always been filled with intrigue and shady deals. Assistant DA Alex Cooper and her NYPD colleagues find themselves investigating a shipwreck involving human cargo - illegally trafficked immigrants - at the same time a sex scandal threatens the career of a promising young congressman.

When Alex discovers that a young woman who died in the wreck and the congressman's murdered lover have the same tattoo - the brand of the mastermind behind the trafficking operation - she realizes that the city's entire political landscape hangs in the balance.