In 2005, the only thing hurting Los Angeles Times columnist and recent bike accident victim Steve Lopez more than his banged-up face, was his pressing need for story ideas. He soon discovers Nathaniel Ayers, a skid row schizophrenic street musician, who possesses extraordinary talent - even though he only has half-broken instruments to play. Inspired by Nathaniel's story, Lopez writes an acclaimed series of articles about him and attempts to do more...

Homeless and misunderstood, Juliard-trained piano genius, Romulus, finds a frozen corpse outside his Manhattan cave. Romulus risks his remaining sanity to prove who committed the murder for the sake of justice.