This novel follows two priests as they investigate a series of killings. Father Saenz, a forensic scientist, and Father Lucer, a psychologist, have been asked by the head of the national police to examine the bodies of several young boys found in one of Manila's enormous garbage dumps. The priests discover the boys were trash pickers, and their deaths had gone unnoticed and unconnected through a combination of willful ignorance and bureaucratic incompetence. As the two priests race to halt further murders, they face resistance from other agencies as well as those social forces that are satisfied with the status quo.

"Portions of this book were previously published in a novella form in the Philippines in 2002 by the University of the Philippines Press"--Verso title page.