A high security Virginia juvenile detention centre is the scene of a savage killing. Twelve-year-old Nathan Bailey is accused of murder and branded a copkiller; orphaned, alone and with nowhere to turn for help, he becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. To stay alive Nathan can count only on himself: on his agility, courage and natural cleverness. The boy's honesty proves a formidable weapon as he endears himself to The Bitch, a national radio talk show host. Condemned to the electric chair by police, politicians and Middle America, Nathan begins to plead his case to a rapt nation. But "justice" will not be denied, and as an army of police and a dogged contract killer draw ever closer, Nathan will be shuttled over the brink of his innocence to the very limits of his endurance...