He's an ordinary justice department lawyer who just landed the case of his life - and it will be his last case if he can't bring down a murderous international network.
The last thing Patrick Carlton wants is a minor case over an obscure diamond mine in the rural south. Ordered to settle it and move on, he instead uncovers a vast conspiracy that began in 1920 Arkansas and leads all the way to present-day Africa, Siberia, the Vatican and the White House - a conspiracy revolving around a single obsession: diamonds.
Piet Slythe, the ruthless South African billionaire who controls the world's supply of the sparkling stones, will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on the market. Carlton will need everything he's got to bring Slythe to justice, and all the luck in the world just to stay alive.
