Easy Rawlins is out of the investigation business and as far away from crime as a black man can be in 1960s Los Angeles. But living around desperate men means life gets complicated sometimes. When his old friend asks for Easy's help, he finds he can't refuse. Easy is asked to trace a young man - 'Brawly Brown' - who has joined a radical and secretive black nationalist group, rejecting white leadership and laws. His first day on the case, Easy comes face-to-face with a corpse, and before he knows it he is a murder suspect and in the middle of a police raid. Brawly Brown is clearly the kind of trouble most folks try to avoid. It takes everything Easy has just to stay alive as he explores a world filled with betrayals and predators like he never Imagined.