Paul Brenner, a former army homicide investigator, had settled into a life of early retirement, a decision forced upon him after the tumultuous end of his last case. However, when his old commanding officer calls in a career's worth of favors, Brenner finds himself drawn back into the fold.

Tasked with investigating a murder that occurred in wartime Vietnam thirty years prior, Brenner reluctantly accepts the mission out of curiosity, loyalty, and perhaps a touch of boredom. Returning to a place that still haunts him, he is swept up into the battle of his life, navigating a world rife with corruption, lethal double-crosses, and haunted memories.

In Vietnam, Brenner encounters Susan Weber, an expatriate as exotic and dangerous as the land of her voluntary exile. Together, they delve into a mystery that thrusts Brenner back into a war that neither he nor his country ever truly stopped fighting.

This thrilling tale is more than just a blood-and-guts thriller; it's an insightful and moving look at the effects of war on a country, its people, and its enemies.