Ellis Alves is a bad kid from the 'hood with a long record, but did he really murder Melissa Henderson, a white student from ritzy Pemberton College? Alves's former lawyers think he was framed, and they hire Spenser to uncover the truth. From Boston's back streets to Manhattan's elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects, including Melissa's rich kid tennis-star boyfriend. But when a man with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, the hope for justice might just die along with the detective...