Ulaan Bataar bakes in the heat of an unseasonably hot summer as it prepares to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Mongol Empire. But the city is facing a series of unexpected crises--an apparent suicide bomber shot down by police in Suuk Bataar Square, a dead body in the City Museum gruesomely arranged to recreate a macabre scene from ancient Mongolian history, an explosion at a political rally, and yet another body found murdered nearby.
For Doripalam, now boss of the Serious Crime Team, the crises are growing increasingly personal. As he struggles to keep control of his own personal and professional life, one of his own team is arrested. Solongo, Doripalam's wife is facing her own challenges and finds herself entangled with murder and with the fugitive officer. Worst of all, Nergui, now an influential figure in the Ministry of Security, appears to be pursuing an agenda all of his own.
The roots of all this trouble lie in the past--in the history of the Mongol nation, as well as in the more recent legacies of the communist state. As the sun beats down, a chilling figure emerges--a figure from Nergui's past, an outcast, who has returned to exact revenge, both on Nergui himself and on the nation that rejected him.
