At the end of the last book, readers knew that something bad had happened to Lucas but not what. You didn't know that Lucas was lying comatose on a bunk with a needle in his arm while his captors bet on how many hours he would live. In this book, all of the Wilizy resources are dedicated to moving him out of harm's way and then bringing justice to a crime family that had taken control of Toronto. Bringing justice to them involves soldiers from two provincial armies, experienced poker players, ninja warriors, explosive experts, bed bugs that look like alligators, martial law, a Japanese crime family, a Voodoo queen's curse, and a guardian angel named Azure.

We mustn't forget Maddy who had also been left in limbo at the end of the previous book. As you probably guessed, the copter took her to the alligator-infested island. Escaping from that island was easy, but unfortunately, so was her recapture. In this book, Maddy finds herself wearing a dog collar with a sadist and an unstable masochist as her temporary parents. Normally Maddy never cries, but she learns a valuable survival skill. If you cry, the beatings stop sooner than if you don't cry.

All Maddy wants to do is go home to Seattle where she lived with her mommy and daddy. Five-year-olds have no sense of geography. Even if they did, Maddy's parents don't live there anymore. Maddy shows that she good at escaping and she doesn't give up. With help from temporary parents she does make her way west. That won't be good enough when she resorts to walking home through Montana's wilderness. To avoid the rain and cold, she crawls on her hands and knees into an animal lair and falls asleep. Hypothermia, starvation and fatigue will keep her asleep.