Mike Torello is a hard-boiled, hair-triggered cop who can bend the law and pummel punks in the same breath, a battle-scarred veteran of the streets who has just declared open season on hoods. Ray Luca is a slick, ruthless young hood, destined for the top of the heap. He'll steal, extort, and kill in his climb from the gutter to the inner circle of Chicago's crime network. And no one--perhaps not even Mike Torello--can stop him.