After the murder of a homeless man in downtown Santa Fe, Private Investigator Fernando Lopez is visited by a local artist who claims to have seen the Devil on Canyon Road. Lopez is dubious, but rumors continue to spread as more Santa Feans see a red-faced beast in the area. When a second homeless man is murdered, Lopez decides to investigate. The case quickly becomes more complicated-and dangerous-when a violent anti-immigrant movement called Take Back Our Streets wants to use the murders as a pretext to ban immigrants and homeless people from the streets of the city. Lopez discovers troubling information about the leader of the movement, information that links them to the murders. Meanwhile, sights of a red-faced beast continue on Canyon Road. Lopez decides to talk the so-called beast and pursues it to an old Forest Service building on Upper Canyon Road. The building is being rented by Ricardo Aragon, a Mexican painter who, Lopez discovers, is on the from the Sinaloa Cartel of Mexico. Unwittingly, Lopez finds himself up against the Sinaloa Cartel, the Take Back Our Streets movement, and the Devil on Canyon Road.