Maggie Chen was born with ink in her blood. Her journalist father has fired her imagination with the thrill of the newsroom, and when her father is killed, she is determined to keep his dreams alive by interning at the local newspaper.

While assisting on her first story, Maggie learns that her father is suspected of illegal activity, and she knows she must clear his name. Drawn to Seattle's Chinatown, she discovers things that are far from what she expected: secrets, lies, and a connection to the Chinese Exclusion Era. Using all of her newspaper instincts and resources, Maggie is forced to confront her ethnicity--and a family she never knew.