This is a story that examines what is that unique quality in individuals that compels them to act in a heroic fashion, when those around them conform with the majority. Each of the main characters are manipulated into a position that they must choose to act on their personal beliefs at risk of their freedom, or status, or career.

The book opens at a trial of a retired police officer convicted of murder. The small Indiana town where every citizen is tightly connected with each other, compels the Judge to pursue deeper answers than was divulged during the trial. He conspires with a newspaper editor to interview the convicted killer (who is also a retired local police detective) to discover why a person would seemingly act in direct contrast to the same law he had dedicated a lifetime to upholding. This plan to ferret out underlying truth thrust each character into discovering at what point they are willing to be in conflict with the law of the land to pursue individual freedoms guaranteed by the founding fathers.