For two decades, Milo Peters successfully scales a twenty-billion-dollar corporate ladder, largely ignoring the unseemly compromises and steady erosion of principles that his climb to the top entails. He can't allow himself to think about such things; it hurts too much. Everything changes with a promotion to corporate headquarters back in Chicago, home to countless painful memories: of his father and old world values ... of a young woman and a relationship squandered ... of all the things Milo Peters had meant to be. What better setting for a midlife nuclear meltdown? Nursing another hangover, Milo heads to Ashton's, the diner where he and his friends had gathered every week during college. There, he runs into Luke Papadakis, his closest childhood friend. Amid the multiplying uncertainties in his life, a dose of Luke is exactly what Milo needs. However, this meeting is no chance reunion. Luke works for the government and is part of a secret investigation into financial improprieties inside Milo's corporation. He wants Milo to become an informant-a whistleblower-and sacrifice everything he has spent his life working toward. Milo faces the most difficult decision of his life, and the ramifications of his decision will prove to be more devastating than he could ever anticipate.

Stephanie Burton is dripping in degrees-both academic and professional. And, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Hers is a voice that pierces the din and circus antics of cable news broadcasting; she conveys genuine compassion and civility to her growing audience, compelling viewers to reach higher, behave more nobly. Eventually, she's hailed as "America's Moral Compass." But something evil lurks behind Stephanie's attractive and charismatic persona. Privately, she contends with emotional scars as sordid as any of the sensationalized stories the networks feast upon. In her deep-seated hatred for men, she carries out a plan to make them pay. When thirty-four-year-old Prize Calloway's dead body is discovered in his Grandview, Missouri, apartment, officials begin to look for connections. Soon, Andie Morrison, a data analyst with the Kansas City Police Department ties Calloway's death to two other brutal sex killings and a motivational speaking tour. The investigation heads down one blind alley after another as the public fixates on every detail, with one virtuous voice at the center.

Stephanie Burton is dripping in degrees-both academic and professional. And, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Hers is a voice that pierces the din and circus antics of cable news broadcasting; she conveys genuine compassion and civility to her growing audience, compelling viewers to reach higher, behave more nobly. Eventually, she's hailed as "America's Moral Compass." But something evil lurks behind Stephanie's attractive and charismatic persona. Privately, she contends with emotional scars as sordid as any of the sensationalized stories the networks feast upon. In her deep-seated hatred for men, she carries out a plan to make them pay. When thirty-four-year-old Prize Calloway's dead body is discovered in his Grandview, Missouri, apartment, officials begin to look for connections. Soon, Andie Morrison, a data analyst with the Kansas City Police Department ties Calloway's death to two other brutal sex killings and a motivational speaking tour. The investigation heads down one blind alley after another as the public fixates on every detail, with one virtuous voice at the center.

For two decades, Milo Peters successfully scales a twenty-billion-dollar corporate ladder, largely ignoring the unseemly compromises and steady erosion of principles that his climb to the top entails. He can't allow himself to think about such things; it hurts too much. Everything changes with a promotion to corporate headquarters back in Chicago, home to countless painful memories: of his father and old world values ... of a young woman and a relationship squandered ... of all the things Milo Peters had meant to be. What better setting for a midlife nuclear meltdown? Nursing another hangover, Milo heads to Ashton's, the diner where he and his friends had gathered every week during college. There, he runs into Luke Papadakis, his closest childhood friend. Amid the multiplying uncertainties in his life, a dose of Luke is exactly what Milo needs. However, this meeting is no chance reunion. Luke works for the government and is part of a secret investigation into financial improprieties inside Milo's corporation. He wants Milo to become an informant-a whistleblower-and sacrifice everything he has spent his life working toward. Milo faces the most difficult decision of his life, and the ramifications of his decision will prove to be more devastating than he could ever anticipate.