 Tom Sharky is a narcotics cop in Atlanta who s demoted to vice after a botched bust. In the depths of this lowly division, while investigating a high-dollar prostitution ring, Sharky stumbles across a mob murder with government ties, and responds by assembling his downtrodden fellow investigators (Sharky s "machine") to find the leaders and bring them to justice before they kill off all his partners and witnesses, including Sharky himself.