Military librarian Ava S. Kelly has never faced a question she cannot answer. With her unlimited access to a unique network of librarians and archivists, she has everything at her fingertips. When Marine Private First Class Pinckney is brutally murdered, nobody believes that it was anything other than a common street crime. Ava finds herself relying on her research skills, putting them to the ultimate life-or-death test. Seeking the truth, her core beliefs are put on trial as she struggles to find justice while deciding whom she can trust.

Drawn into the national capital's top-secret world of high-level political and military intrigue, Ava finds an unlikely ally in Marine Major Jack Lang. He is the one man capable of keeping her safe, but he's a man with secrets of his own. With time running out, Ava must choose her steps carefully since the killer is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to cover his tracks. Ava must set aside her fears and take a leap of faith, risking everything to expose a murder while revealing the facts that will redefine American history forever.