Prohibition has just ended, and the US is still struggling in the depths of the Great Depression. But for notorious playboy and ex-bootlegger Marty Storm, life couldn't be better. Only his best friend knows about his knack for water magic-and for making "problems" disappear-though no one knows his family's shipping business was built on sorcery and murder.

When he's accused of a gruesome murder, he knows he's been framed, but corrupt cops and his conscience aren't his only problem. Vengeful spirits, a little girl with a strange connection to the Los Angeles River, a crate full of trouble, and broken memories, force him to unwind the horrifying secrets of his own past and return to the dark heart of his family in the bayous outside New Orleans. With some unlikely allies both new and old, Marty must confront the ugly source of his family's fortune and power.

Murder, magic, love, death, and family: Marty Storm has come to the tipping point of his life, whether he knows it or not, and to control his destiny, he'll take a desperate plunge into dark magic he swore he'd never use.