When Harry Bosch was 11 years old, his mother was murdered. He became a ward of the state, housed in MacLaren Children’s Center, a notorious facility where abuse was rampant. Decades after its closure, a lawsuit has resulted in a massive settlement for former residents. But when Bosch’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, brings him word that he is entitled to part of it, Bosch says he doesn’t want the money. He wants justice. The news awakens Bosch’s memories of a place he had hoped never to revisit, and of a boy nicknamed Chops, a fellow ward who wound up dead. Bosch is certain that Chops was killed in a hidden space under the stairs --- the kids knew it as “the hollow” --- and his murder covered up. Now he is determined to reopen the investigation and learn the truth.