Over the years, the Three Dog Detective Agency has encountered injustice, cruelty and evil in a variety of forms, from gangs of feral cats and dogs to operators of illegal dog fighting rings, from rapacious animal enslavers of innocent household pets to a ferocious beast out of the immemorial past. But nothing prepared them for the vicious dogs of Afghanistan, fanatic soldiers of the mystical Dog at the Well, who departed their homeland on a mission of revenge and murder. Anila, a beautiful but evil Afghan Hound, used her pack to terrorize village dogs and force them to follow the Dog at the Well. In an instant, however, Anila is dishonored and the spiritual life of Afghanistan is threatened by a resurgence of the long-suppressed traditions of First Dog, the legendary being who came out of the darkness to lay by the campfire in primal times, and Anubis, the mythical teacher from ancient Egypt who taught dogs the ways of civilization and now guides them after passing. A quest for the restoration of Anila's honor and a way to reestablish the sovereignty of the Dog of the Well has brought them to Chula Vista, seeking the death of an American dog whom they call Iblis. Wounded and traumatized, frightened and confused, their quarry will be an easy victim for the dogs of Afghanistan. Or he would have been if a plucky Pomeranian had not been out on patrol one day...