It is 1987 in the Hamptons. Cocaine is the drug of choice, AIDS is rampant, and the Old Guard is trying to hang on as new money invades Long Island's East End. Hunter McPherson, East Hampton resident, entrepreneur, and fitness trainer to those of wealth, takes the reader "south of the highway" behind the manicured hedgerows for a firsthand look at the opulent and romanticized lives of the privileged few who live there.

Privy to the entitled and deceitful world of his clients, Hunter is faced with a growing cynicism as those with massive egos, limitless greed, and needs for hedonistic pleasure test his moral resolve at every turn. Presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at creating his own wealth, Hunter cashes in on the dark secrets of his clients, using what he has learned to wield his own form of leverage, control, and power. In the process, lives are forever changed, including his own.