When Kurt Larsen is hired to investigate embezzlement at Boston's latest entry into the fast-moving world of home-finance, he expects little more than an opportunity to take down some white-collar, rich-man wannabe, while paying something on account to his "credit-card company, two girlfriends, ex-wife, and bartender." But the theft of hundreds of thousands has only opened the door into New World Mortgage's labyrinth of secrets. Soon after the case begins, Karina Miller, the company's beautiful young accountant, is found strangled in her apartment. Crime follows bloody crime as Larsen and State Police Detective Stewart travel the seamy, underworld streets. They encounter high-class prostitution, stylish confidence games, and high-flying financial fraud. It's a nightmarish pursuit of a vicious mind whose path is strewn with uncontrollable lusts and unholy pleasures, even as the killer remains hidden in the polyester-like fabric of everyday life in corporate America.