In the neon-glare and grit of 1980s New York-graffiti-streaked subways, squeegee men at stop lights, dive bars and an old-world gentlemen's club-left-handed lawyer Finnegan Alger has built a routine of chasing trademark counterfeiters and hapless romance-until a deadly crime upends his life. Navy pilots are dying, and Finn stumbles upon the cause. This should be the big break to make his career, but why does everyone press him to look away? A pervasive cover-up forces him to confront more than the ghosts of his childhood tragedy and grudge against the right-handed world. In a city built on ambition and silence, what will one outsider risk for justice-or retribution?

William Michael Ried was born on Long Island, graduated from the University of Michigan and Georgetown University Law Center and practices law in New York City. His first novel Five Ferries was a finalist in the 2019 American Fiction Awards for Best New Fiction. In 2021 his second novel Backstory won the New York City Big Book Award for Mystery and a Silver Medal from the Wishing Shelf Book Awards for Adult Fiction, was a semi-finalist for the Kindle Book Award for Literary Fiction, and it was named a 2022 Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist. His third novel Pandion was named a 2022 Distinguished Favorite Mystery by the NYC Big Book Awards and a Red Ribbon Winner of the 2022 Wishing Shelf Awards, made the 2023 Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List and was awarded Honorable Mention in the category of Mystery/Crime in the 2023 Eric Hoffer Awards. He lives with his wife in Manhattan.