Jake Carsons life is in shambles. He was once a successful attorney. Now disbarred, he lives in a La Jolla, California, halfway house and drinks away his sorrows. The only thing that drags him from his stupor is the murder of former clients, Nate and Jen McGuire. The guilt over his affair with Jen makes him want to investigate her death.

Jake meets Brother Rasmussen, a preacher for the New Age Christian Mission. The good brother gives him a hand but also inadvertently links the mission to the McGuires deaths. Rasmussens mission is active in the Central African Republic. When a nun with African ties is murdered, it would seem another death is left on the missions doorstep.

The further Jake digs into his ex-clients lives, the more convoluted the case becomes. The McGuire family likes to argue, and Jake is soon in over his head with a grieving sister and very demanding brother. It would also seem that before his death Nate scammed money to give to Rasmussens mission. No one is who he or she seems, and the closer Jake gets to solving the case, the closer he gets to becoming the next corpse.