Frank George and his partner Ray Rahne have worked hard to get their small, progressive architecture office in New York City to the next level. Then they land the commission of a lifetime: to design a new stadium complex across the Hudson in rough and tumble Jersey City. They might be just across the river from Wall Street, but Frank and Ray are a long way from home.
Their client is notorious developer Larry Tyerman. Tyerman is a bare-knuckle negotiator lurking inside a bespoke suit, with connections to everyone – and anyone – with the power to push his projects through. Union bosses, politicians, even the local cops – everybody owes him a favor. And nobody wants to be the guy standing in his way, not with this much money on the line. Rumor has it that the stadium project is truly make or break for Tyerman. Desperation hasn’t made him a more patient man.
Tyerman’s major investors in the stadium project, a couple of rich young fashion victims from Taiwan, have a conflict of interest that could bring the entire project down — literally. Jersey City’s progressive, hybrid-driving young city councilman, Philip Haney, is possibly on Tyerman’s payroll. And his driver, a hulking figure named Tony Hello, harbors a secret of his own — a secret that might be Frank’s only salvation.
Then there’s Jane Kaplan, a staff writer at The Ledger whose femme fatale looks are second only to her naked ambition. Does she know more than she’s willing to tell Frank? And whose side is she on, anyway?
Things come to a head when Frank gets a cryptic message from Ray, moments before Ray’s fatal plunge from the 39th floor of the construction site. Did he jump? Or was he pushed?
It will be up to Frank to piece the mystery together — and try to stay alive.