For Fargo-based private investigator Ryan Moar, the island of Zanzibar is longer a laid-back tropical paradise-it has become a sinister and violent place. On this exotic East African island, the most unlikely target imaginable is economics professor Jomo Willow gunned down outside a seedy bar, a cold execution by an unknown assassin. Ryan pays a brutal price for saving Aisling Quinn from drowning in Zanzibar's harbor. The rescue of the enigmatic Irish woman, plunges Ryan into a maelstrom of manipulations by a notorious crime tsar known only as Shark. The head of an international rogue organization, Shark is bent on expanding his empire at a frightening pace, eliminating anyone who stands in his way. When Ryan finds out Aisling has transmitted Shark's secret files to Ireland, the PI is compelled to find the incriminating documents no matter what the cost. Ryan is soon embroiled in a deadly duel against one of the world's most diabolical criminals. While staying one-step ahead of teams of deadly assassins, the hunt for Dr. Willow's killer takes Ryan from the narrow back alleys of Zanzibar to the gritty streets and stately homes of Dublin.