The book was first published on October 1, 1998, through Viking Press and follows the character of Phineas Poe after he wakes up in a hotel bathtub full of ice to discover that somebody has removed one of his kidneys.

She drugs him removes his kidney, and leaves him in a hotel bathtub full of ice with a note on the counter that reads, "If you want to live, call 9-1-1."

Phineas, an ex-police officer who had recently been searching for information against the Denver Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit, later finds out that a bag of heroin replaced his kidney.

While searching for his missing kidney, Phineas finds love in his attacker while he evades the angry Denver police and tries to unlock the secrets behind his wife's recent death.

[1][2] Entertainment Weekly gave the book a "C+", writing that Baer's "scalpel-sharp noir style proves a mesmerizing lure, but it can't compensate for a hazy plot that veers from the nauseating (much gratuitous, ornately sadistic violence) to the nonsensical".