Max Raban is a former investigative journalist who lost his job when he revealed a source in a government scandal. The source later committed suicide, and Raban's feelings of guilt cause him to lose touch with his wife Carolyn and their daughter. This guilt manifested itself as phengophobia, a fear of daylight. To earn money, Raban searches garbage cans at night for scandal, which he sells to Jimmy Kerrigan, his former editor and best friend. When Max discovers the murder of two Iranian cousins, he begins to suspect that a death squad is at work, targeting pro-Islamists and backed by an organization determined to wage an eternal war. Is Max finally an investigative journalist again?