One unsuccessful shot - and Detective Matt Scudder has to leave the police, and his life seems to lose all meaning. Another shot - and the man Scudder knew in childhood dies, and then he has to remember his profession. Because only he understands: Ellery, a small-time crook from the Bronx, was silenced by someone putting a bullet in his mouth. But what could Ellery know? What and who could he, who did not trust the police, tell? Skudler begins an investigation and again goes through all the circles of hell in New York, a city that hides many dark secrets...