In a suburb north of New York City there is a cloistered monastery. The tranquility of the nuns is shattered when Sister Damian of Mary receives a grisly gift: three severed hands and three feet.

Put in charge of the investigation is 55-year-old Detective Eliaphus Daniel Janah. A Jew, he has a Kabbalistic background, studies Tai Chi Chuan, is skilled in the martial arts, and has recently separated from the wife he loves.