Reporter Eddie Bourque chases stories for the Lowell Empire, a second-class rag in a Massachusetts city of first-generation immigrants and bare-knuckled politicians. The talented and ambitious Eddie has one eye on finding a better job. However, when the dead junkie found floating in a mill canal is identified as his beat partner, he gives the story his full attention. That is, until he finds himself stonewalled by powerbrokers in Lowell law enforcement-- and at his own newspaper.Bent on finding his partner' s killer, Eddie disobeys orders and follows a mysterious Cambodian woman into the city' s poorest neighborhood-- with violent results. Battered, dumped in a canal and left for dead, Eddie survives an encounter with an invisible underworld, only to find himself entangled in an international plot of murder and revenge.It' s do or die for Eddie as he struggles to stay one step ahead of ruthless hitmen, the city' s self-serving power elite, and the curious police detective who always shows up when Eddie wishes she wouldn' t. The story of a lifetime beckons, but the closer he comes to the truth, the greater the chance that the story- and Eddie will be spiked.