Peter Decker's latest case with the LAPD is the most bizarre of his storied career. When the elderly, eccentric billionaire Hobart Penny is found dead in his apartment, the cops think that his pet Bengal tiger must have turned against him. But as Decker and his colleagues, Detectives Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver, dig into the victim's life, they discover that Penny had all kinds of exotic and kinky tastes. It soon becomes clear that the beast that killed the peculiar inventor is all too human.

Following a trail of clues that leads from a wildlife sanctuary in the San Bernardino Mountains to the wild nightlife of Las Vegas, the LAPD detectives are left juggling too many suspects and too few answers. To crack a case involving the two most primal instincts--sex and murder--Decker wrestles with a difficult choice. Should he turn to someone with expert knowledge of both, Chris Donatti, the dangerous man who also happens to be the father of Decker's foster son? As his work and personal life collide, Decker finds himself facing tough questions and wondering if the conflict between family crises and professional duties will be the undoing of his career.