After his fiancée, Karen, is murdered in a drive-by shooting, a young writer, Matt Warfield, vows to search out her killer. Despite the tearful pleas of Kacey Cutter, Karen's sister, and the stern warning of a gang squad police sergeant, he makes plans to infiltrate the dark and dangerous, dope-ridden environs of the "hood", declaring, as a ruse, his intent to write on gang life from the viewpoint of the gang's members.

This is the spark that lights the fuse of an explosive drama, researched through in-depth interviews with actual gang members and police officers, and thorough study of other documentation.

Through a shady lawyer, Matt is introduced to Tyrel "Slasher" Moss, a vicious young dope dealer and killer who takes him to other scary occupants of the 'hood, all hoping to "be famous" through publication of the writer's efforts. Matt's precarious stance with the Crips gang he interviews crumbles when the true purpose of his investigation is discovered. Matt narrowly escapes death in another drive-by, then an unsuspected tie-in with a powerful mob boss and a rogue cop puts both Matt and Kacey in danger, and they flee a pair of mob hit men in a harrowing car chase that ends in a fiery crash.