Composed and meticulous the soft-spoken and ingenious bank robber Dalton Russell has orchestrated the perfect heist--shortly the Manhattan bank at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway along with dozens of hostages will be his to command. Try as he might the rough hostage negotiator Keith Frazier is always one step behind the criminal mastermind--and what is more disheartening--the institution's silver-haired founder Arthur Case recruits the intelligent problem-fixer Madeline White to retrieve something of paramount importance. However the thieves seem to procrastinate intentionally when they should be rushing into action. Will Arthur and Madeline get what they want this time?