The definitive prodigal son Val Shepard returns to New York City after a self imposed exile to find, his girlfriend married, his career as an artist in shambles and his home occupied by a stranger: the charismatic Jackson King, or "Mr. Jack".With nowhere to go, Val takes up residence in the discarded janitors closet across the hall from his old studio. Here Val is witness to Jackson's decadent lifestyle, heroin abuse and sensual parties. Val begins to develop an admiration for Jackson, and as vicarious observer, sets a series of events into motion that will ultimately lead to Jackson's demise.Through the words of protagonist Val Shepard, and from the safety of the pages of Mr. Jack, the reader experiences the passions and decadences of Manhattan's Lower East Side, the last bastion of Bohemia in New York City.