John Connolly takes readers into the dark and mysterious world of private detective Charlie Parker. When the daughter of a South Carolina millionaire is brutally raped and murdered, a young black man faces the death penalty for the crime. It's a case steeped in old evil, and old evil is Parker's specialty.

Parker is drawn into a living nightmare, a chilling dreamscape haunted by the specter of a hooded woman and a black car waiting for a passenger that never arrives. This is not just an investigation; it's a descent into an abyss where dark forces threaten all that Parker holds dear: his lover, his unborn child, and even his soul.

In a prison cell far to the north, an old adversary plots revenge, utilizing the very men Parker is hunting and a strange, hunched creature with its own secrets buried by a riverbank. This undiscovered killer, Cyrus Nairn, adds to the growing tension.

Soon, all these figures will face a final reckoning in the southern swamps and northern forests—distant locations linked by a single thread, a place where the paths of the living and the dead converge. This place is known only as The White Road.

Quick-witted and cocksure, young upstart Capac Raimi arrives in the City determined to make his mark. As he learns the tricks of his new trade from his Uncle Theo, he's soon on his way to becoming a promising new gangster. Then he crosses paths with The Cardinal, and his life changes forever.