A phone call at midnight. A cocktail lounge on New Orleans's West Bank. A young woman who wants to photograph prostitutes and re-create Bellocq's famous Storyville portraits. And murder. These are the threads that lead private eye Neal Rafferty into a labyrinth of danger in the Crescent City . . . where crime is always hot, spicy, and full-flavored with suspense. The phone call is from his old girlfriend Jackie Silva.A loan shark named Bubba Brevna is threatening to collect from Jackie the traditional way . . . with pain. He's already moved into her establishmentthe Emerald Lizardwith a bouncer called Godzilla, some call girls, and a set of muscular twins with one brain between them who are running ';chicken drop' contests on the dance floor.What Rafferty can't foresee is that, within days, the Emerald Lizard will be torched and Jackie Silva will be dead; soon, the young photographer will be missing.Rafferty begins a dark journey of guilt, grief, and revenge amid the stink of corruption that will send him into the deadly shadows of narrow streets and twisted hearts.