Tough, smart, and struggling to stay alive, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. August grew up in Detroit's Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. Now, after a successful wrongful dismissal suit and a year away, he’s returned home to a pile of unsettled scores. When business magnate Eleanore Paget dies of an apparent suicide, what begins as an unofficial inquiry into her death soon drags August into a rat's nest of Detroit's most dangerous criminals.