The stabbing and murder of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building is dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard/security expert D Hunter, suspects foul play. A missing manuscript, an old cassette tape and some veiled threats suggest that larger and more sinister forces are at work. D Hunter's investigation into his mentor's murder ultimately leads into a parallel history of hip hop full of government agents, hidden power brokers and paranoid journalists.
