The film is adapted from Lawrence Block's 1992 crime novel of the same name. Neeson plays Matthew Scudder, a former New York police officer who is now an unlicensed private investigator. A series of kidnappings targeting drug dealers' wives occurred in New York, and the victims were all killed. Scudder agreed to the request of one of them (Dan Stevens) and his brother, and with the help of his former colleague and a 17-year-old street artist, he found the two murderers behind the scenes.