In 1950's Boston, the Irish Republican Army is running guns and
killing witnesses. Cal and Dante are committed to stopping them.
When a body is discovered at the Charlestown locks -- tarred, feathered
and shot to death -- it appears to be a gangland killing, and is almost
immediately dismissed. However, Cal O'Brien's cousin, Boston PD
detective Owen Lackey, recognizes the murder style as the typical
retribution for IRA informers. Combined with a tip-off about a boat
coming into Boston weighed down with stolen guns and ammunition, the
body in the locks hints that much more may be at stake than a one-off
hit.
Serpents in the Cold introduced us to Cal and Dante, whose previous
investigation brought them to the highest ranks of Boston's political
elite. This time, Cal and Dante descend into the city's shadowy
underbelly -- a world of packed dance halls, Irish wakes, and funeral
parlors. There they discover a terrorist plot that will shake the city
to its core and bring them head-to-head not only with Cal's past, but
with the IRA Army Council itself.