James Barbour Matlock is a Vietnam veteran and college professor. Now the U.S. government has an assignment for him: investigate what appears to be a large-scale drug and prostitution operation, and they will go to any lengths to find the answers they need. The people Matlock cares for are under threat. Would he have accepted the job if he'd known what it would mean? He seems the perfect man for the job—for reasons that are deadly, violent, and extremely disturbing.