Years after Chicago lost its superhero, a masked villain terrorizes the city—and a lone reporter must discover their secrets—in this "extraordinary novel" (Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven). Somewhere in Chicago, a roomful of people have been taken hostage. They will be killed one by one, unless the police admit that they faked the death of the legendary superhero called the Kingfisher and helped him to give up his defense of the city thirty years ago. Retired reporter Marcus Waters made his name covering the enigmatic superhero's five years of cleaning up Chicago's streets. Then the Kingfisher died, Chicago resumed its violent turmoil, and Marcus slid back into obscurity. Now, with the help of a disgraced police officer and a young hacktivist, Marcus delves into the city's dark past to discover the truth about Kingfisher—and attempt to save the hostages before time runs out.