Mark Dolan earned millions as a major-league baseball pitcher until his arm gave out. He succeeded again in his second career as a freelance detective, guiding clients through tight spots with a combination of luck, guile, and stubborn resolve. Then he got careless during a case and a woman he cared about died, savagely beaten and left to bleed out on the side of a California highway. A year later, Dolan, still grieving, finds himself once more immersed in a world populated by dangerous people. He’s been hired by Hank Callahan, a Chicago tycoon who built a profitable international airline despite a weakness for Kentucky bourbon and long nights in dark saloons. Callahan wants to retire and hand the airline over to his employees. But powerful industry rivals have other ideas, and they are willing to play very dirty to get their way. Dolan takes them on, battling the bad guys, defying the long odds against him—and changing the course of his life along the way.