Paul Emmons has his faults - envy, lust, naivete, money laundering, and art forgery among them. A fallen accountant, exiled abroad, he has led a life that inspires courtroom debate over the distinction between "immoral" and "amoral." But it's when he returns to New England, the region of his crimes, that real trouble begins. Paul's singular resources will be vividly tested by a phantom swimmer, a disappearing river, and gangsters torn between vengeance and art appreciation.