"From a former New Orleans public defender comes a gritty and thrilling interrogation of crime, violence, and the limits of justice in the chaotic times after Hurricane Katrina... A 16-year-old confesses to the murder of a local celebrity - a hero of New Orleans's shaky post-storm recovery. The boy's father, doing life in prison for a series of minor offenses, will do anything to save him... Enter Ben Alder from Massachusetts, attorney and former rabbinical student, who drifts into town and finds himself defending them both - and breaking all the rules in a desperate struggle against systemic violence..." -- Back cover.