The Pinkerton Files sets real cases of America's first detective in a world of radical inventions driving a bitterly divided nation to war. These stories, which inspired the audio series narrated by Battlestar Galactica's Michael Hogan, blend true events into an alternate setting where history has not turned out the way we know it.

Agency founder Allan Pinkerton suspects a conspiracy is mounting against him and his operatives. Every step they take toward solving a series of seemingly disconnected crimes draws them deeper into a conflict that will be their downfall. If he allows them to become embroiled in the Civil War, they will never find their way out. As enemies emerge and the real danger takes shape, though, Allan sees that the only way to survive the war may be to join it.

The Sleepwalker and The Spy opens with Allan taking his first assignment as a secret agent of the White House. President Lincoln pulls the army back to Washington where a convoy of slave ships is set to land. Allan must ensure the convoy's safe journey north but his operatives are stretched beyond their limit. Allan faces the cruel business of espionage and, after a fire breaks out in New York City, the old detective realizes he is in over his head.