Kaden Norris's life is shattered when his older brother-- his best friend and hero-- is killed in Iraq. He decides to fulfill his brother's last wishes left to him in a letter, urging him to break out of his sheltered existence, to read Chuck Pahaluniak, and to go to San Francisco and visit his cousin, James Morgan.

James is a popular author, and a notorious bad-boy with a major cocaine addiction. Kaden's visit to San Francisco quickly turns from an exciting adventure to a wild disaster as he experiences things he's never dreamed of and uncovers secrets about his family that alter his world forever.