The boy was born and raised on the Main Line, but he vanished on Philadelphia's mean streets, last seen in a downtown cheater's hotel. The boy's mother, Linda Coldren, is a golf superstar and Myron Bolitar's client. When he goes after the missing boy, presumed kidnapped, he crashes through a crowd of lowlifes, blue bloods, and liars on both sides of the social divide. Meanwhile, Linda's husband is trying to stage a comeback at the U.S. Open, only to be found dead in a sand trap.