Lucky Lucas is back in The Damage,set in the colorful, edgy, and seductive city of San Francisco. Lucky Lucas, a widowed ex-Police Detective, has relocated from Southern California to San Francisco to be near his son's family. As a favor to a friend, Lucas agrees to locate Diane Berger, an eighteen year old girl who has suddenly disappeared from her wealthy parent's Russian Hill home. Lucas locates the girl in Venice Beach, but not before stumbling upon a corpse in the apartment where she has been staying. Blackmail and marital infidelities result in additional collateral damage and homicides, while Diane Berger's maturation from teen-age girl to a young woman hungry for independence is fueled through her friendship with Mona, Lucas' girlfriend, and her new mentor.