Psychiatrist Anna Nava knew the body on the table.
It was Alexis Coleman, one of her patients at the clinic, a promising med student at the University of California. She had just been pronounced dead of an overdose.
An hour before, Alexis had sent out a text, "suffocating ... can't go on living like this." Of course, doctors had ruled it a suicide.
But four days earlier she had texted something even more cryptic. Something about a clinic ... a van... "Could be big. Talk Sat."
Two seemingly disparate messages. Could they somehow be connected?
That's what Anna Nava is determined to find out.
Across town, Callum Addison, an orthopedic surgeon at the renowned Mission Bay practice, has been putting in overtime. The workload has followed him home, leading to a strained marriage and nights of insomnia. He wants to help people and be a good doctor, but the demands of his practice might be getting in the way.
It's nearly the 4th of July and one of the hottest summers on record. The temperature is going to keep rising as Anna seeks to unravel this heated conspiracy of addiction, pharmaceuticals, and the forces behind both.