First in a new hard-boiled series that redefines the private eye for a new generation Matt Grudge and Leslie Crow, disenchanted private investigators with an affinity for the alternative lifestyle of the nineties, dubbed the Grunge Operatives, probe a murder that hits them where they live and breathe; the killing of the tattoo artist and proprietress of the parlor where their first tats were inked. Face to face with sadistic captors who will stop at nothing to ensure their underground agenda remains secret, Matt is forced to sort out his discoveries before his interrogators learn he's merely a loose end to eliminate. Confronting the suicidal guilt over the victim she knew on intimate terms, her repressed emotions and feral instincts on a countdown to vengeance, Leslie struggles to untangle an international link to the crime. Meanwhile, Matt protects a seductive witness with a stranglehold on his heart, which leads to his capture and unmerciful interrogation. When their paths converge, the duo unmask a vigilante whose inconsolable wrath will engulf them in a fiery rage.