Zulu, the novel's protagonist, is badder than Shaft and gets more women into bed than James Bond (and with fewer gadgets). A "cultural megamix" with a Ph.D from Yale and something hotter than a pistol in his pants, he is Miami's most renowned P.I. and bon vivant. When a beautiful young rapper poised for the top of the charts is found dead in her apartment, not a mark on her perfect ebony body, Zulu is off and jamming, his two sidekicks, Lita ("a pure ghetto flower") and Roy (a B-boy, homeboy), trailing in his amplified wake.