She was gorgeous, young ... and dying horribly as she was carried into San Francisco's Mercy Hospital. But no one recognizes the mystery ailment that destroyed an all-American beauty queen whose life had spiraled downward into a seedy world of skin and video sex. And as the ER physician on duty, Dr. Carroll Monks will have to do penance for her death. Now, with his career at stake, Monks is looking for answers in a shadowy place where the desperate come seeking enduring youth and enhanced beauty -- and where the knife of a world-famous plastic surgeon can perform miracles ... or abominations.