Lincoln Rime is confined to a wheelchair, but the FBI calls him “our last hope” he is a genius in the field of forensics. The American government sets an almost impossible task for Rime, but he, along with his partner Amelia Sachs, manages to determine the location of the cargo ship on Board which are fugitives from China, as well as the famous smuggler and killer named Ghost. However, the detention of the Ghost turns into a disaster, and Lincoln and Amelia enter a race against time: it is necessary to stop the criminal before he has time to find and destroy the two surviving families who are lost in the labyrinth of New York.