City in Ruins

The novel opens with a prologue in which Danny Ryan watches an old casino implode and limps through the ruins of his city, leaning on a cane. The narrative then loops back to trace the events that brought him to this moment.

In Las Vegas in June 1997, Danny Ryan is a multimillionaire casino executive, a far cry from the blue-collar Providence dockworker who fled Rhode Island nearly a decade earlier with an infant son, a father with dementia, and nothing to his name. Through desperate and sometimes criminal maneuvers, including robbing a drug cartel's cash house in a deal brokered by a federal agent, Danny accumulated enough money to invest in the Tara Group, a Las Vegas gaming company assembled by Pasco Ferri, the retired boss of the New England crime syndicate; Danny's mother, Madeleine McKay, a former showgirl turned wealthy investor; and real estate partners Dom Rinaldi and Jerry Kush. Though regulators denied Danny's ownership application, his lawyers secured him a Key Employee gaming license as director of hotel operations. He has already turned one failing casino into the profitable Casablanca and built the Shores, a $550 million ocean-themed resort.

Despite his success, Danny is restless. A looming federal gambling commission threatens subpoena power that could expose his hidden ownership stake. At his son Ian's 10th birthday party, Danny negotiates with Dave Neal, a Democratic Party operative, exchanging political contributions and casino chips for a promise to neutralize the threat. At the same party, Kevin Coombs, a former crew member struggling with addiction, crashes the event and nearly reveals Danny's criminal past before being punched unconscious by his partner Sean South. Danny's chief rival in the casino business, Vern Winegard, seizes on the disruption to publicly mock Danny as a "Man of mystery."

Danny's ambitions center on Il Sogno ("The Dream"), a billion-dollar, 3,000-room luxury hotel. The first step is acquiring the Lavinia, the last privately held hotel on the Strip, whose elderly owner George Stavros has all but agreed to sell to Winegard. Danny learns from Pasco that decades earlier, a gangster firebombed Stavros's hotel and killed his young daughter Lavinia, after which Pasco and Danny's father burned the arsonist alive. Danny matches Winegard's $100 million offer and adds a $10 million donation for a burn unit named after Stavros's daughter. Stavros sells to Tara.

To raise the billion dollars needed, Danny reluctantly agrees to take Tara public through an initial public offering (IPO). Winegard launches a hostile takeover, buying up Tara stock. Madeleine arranges a meeting with Abe Stern, a reclusive multibillionaire who has avoided Las Vegas for 30 years. At Stern's Lake Tahoe estate, Abe explains why: Alfred "Allie Boy" Licata, a Detroit mafia captain, murdered one of Abe's younger brothers and chained the other to the decomposing corpse for three days, causing permanent psychological damage, then forced Abe out of town. Licata later helped Winegard enter the casino business. Moved by Danny's composure and the chance for retribution, Abe agrees to buy enough stock to block the takeover, making the Stern Company a 40 percent partner. His grandson Josh Stern, a Harvard- and Wharton-educated analyst, moves to Las Vegas and becomes a trusted member of Danny's inner circle.

The conflict with Winegard deepens through outside manipulation. FBI Subdirector Reggie Moneta, who believes Danny murdered her former lover, FBI Agent Phillip Jardine, years earlier, blackmails retired agent Jim Connelly, now Winegard's security chief, into spreading false rumors that Danny has been mocking Winegard. Connelly also helps engineer a gaming board investigation through Camilla Cooper, a born-again Christian board member and outspoken opponent of gay marriage. Danny neutralizes Cooper by having his police contact, Lieutenant Ron Fahey, photograph Cooper's husband in a secret gay relationship, then confronts Cooper with the evidence. She agrees to clear Danny at the hearing. Madeleine secures a temporary ceasefire with Moneta through former CIA Director Evan Penner, though Penner warns it will not last.

Danny also maintains a secret relationship with Eden Landau, a psychology professor, and dedicates his Saturdays to Ian, striving to balance ambition with the personal connections his earlier choices nearly cost him.

In a parallel Providence storyline, chief prosecutor Marie Bouchard pursues the trial of Peter Moretti Jr., a former marine who killed his stepfather Vinnie Calfo and his mother Celia Moretti. Defense attorney Bruce Bascombe, hired by Pasco, wages a campaign of reasonable doubt. The jury acquits Peter on charges related to Calfo but deadlocks on Celia's murder. Peter then confesses in open court. After a mistrial, Marie accepts an insanity plea, committing Peter to a locked facility.

Meanwhile, Chris Palumbo, a former mob adviser, or consigliere, who abandoned his family years earlier, returns to Rhode Island from hiding in rural Nebraska. He humbles himself before the mob figures who have been exploiting his family's businesses. On Pasco's orders, Chris eventually executes a coordinated purge, declares himself boss of the New England family, and reconciles with his wife Cathy.

Back in Las Vegas, violence escalates. Licata arrives with a crew and begins threatening Danny's employees. Danny recalls his old crew members for protection, ordering them not to fire the first shot. Vern's teenage son Bryce is left brain-dead in a car accident, leaving Vern shattered. Fahey is killed in a seemingly random bank robbery that Danny suspects was targeted. Danny offers the grief-stricken Vern an equal partnership in Il Sogno, and Vern agrees to consider it. But Kevin and Sean, disobeying Danny's direct orders, attack Licata's desert safe house. Licata's men capture and kill them both, leaving their severed heads as a warning. A second crew murders Josh Stern, staging his death as a suicide.

Danny flies to Lake Tahoe for Josh's funeral. Abe, devastated, blames Danny for failing to protect his grandson and issues three demands: The Stern Company will financially destroy Winegard; Danny must personally kill Licata; and Danny must resign from Tara forever. Consumed by guilt and recognizing that a price must be paid, Danny accepts.

Licata's crew kidnaps Eden to lure Danny into a trap. Danny surrenders himself in exchange for her release and is taken to a salvage yard where Licata reveals a shooter is stationed at Danny's house with orders to kill Ian. In the ensuing confrontation, Danny kills Licata's son Chucky, traps Licata under a car, and sets the vehicle ablaze. At Danny's home, Ned Egan, Danny's elderly lifelong protector, strangles the shooter but collapses from a heart attack and dies.

Danny meets Vern in the desert. Vern, believing Danny attacked Licata's crew while pretending to negotiate peace, learns that Licata is dead and that the Stern Company will destroy him. Vern tells Danny, "You have your son. Hold on to that," and shoots himself. Danny goes to Eden's condo to say goodbye, then collapses from blood loss.

An epilogue set in 2023 follows Ian Ryan, now 36, along the Rhode Island beach where the mob war began decades earlier. Ian has combined the Tara Group and the Stern Company into the world's largest gaming conglomerate. Danny, forced out of the business, spent his final years as a devoted grandfather before dying of a brain tumor the previous September. Ian opens a brass urn and pours his father's ashes into the sea. A wave crashes, taking the ashes and wiping away the children's sandcastle. The kids laugh, knowing they will build another one. Danny Ryan is home.