A good cop, a young man of conscience, Robbie Brownlaw was thrown from a sixth-floor window of a downtown hotel and miraculously survived the fall. The traumatic incident left Robbie with a fast-track career in the San Diego P.D.'s Homicide division . . . and a rare neurological condition that enables him to see people's emotional words as colored shapes?green trapezoids of envy, red squares of deception . . .

Another good man lies dead in a blood-splattered Ford Explorer?an ex-cop-turned-ethics investigator whose private life was torn open by unthinkable tragedy. Whether Garrett Asplundh's death was suicide or murder isn't immediately apparent?but it's soon clear to Robbie and his smart, tough partner, McKenzie Cortez, that Garrett had hard evidence of sex, scandal, and corruption spreading deep into local government. But pursuing the truth could prove more emotionally devastating than Robbie ever imagined?and cause the fatal fall of more than one top player, and the city Robbie serves.