When Smith Driskill, a 55-year-old east Texas farmer, widowed and abandoned by his children; dramatically executes child molester and murderer Rodney William Markum; he is unprepared for the ensuing media circus painting him as a hero or the political free-for-all that ensues when he chooses residence on death row over a day in court. Why is Driskill determined to die on death row, and why have so many people pledged to stop him? The odd pairing of smitten Detective Nathan DeRidder and rising reporter Kayla Cope race to unravel the mystery behind Driskill's deathwish, while he battles the forces pledged to stop him.