Zachary Bujold is released from a juvenile detention center into current day New Orleans at the age of twenty-one, after a seven year confinement for murdering his parents. His defense was deemed implausible-that Zach's twin brother, Louis, had killed their parents-especially since no family member or friend was aware of Louis's existence. Psychologists were certain that Zach suffered from a multiple personality syndrome. Zach attempts to rebuild a life in New Orleans, and quickly becomes sexually involved with a woman. He also has an affair with his uncle's girlfriend. When someone close to him is found strangled to death, Zach must find his brother before he's arrested for murder one. A series of discoveries regarding the Bujold crime family adds to Zach's fears, and, in order to extricate himself from a murder rap, he'll have to expose family secrets that could prove to be hazardous to his health.