In a near-future America under tyranny all God-given rights are denied, and brutal injustice cuts human nature to the bone exposing both the intoxication of absolute power and the rarest, finest qualities of the most common people. Patrick Paine kills the national police who murder his family and flees into a Southern swamp. The crucible of the death hunt, his pain and hate, give birth to a warrior with one cause: revenge. Hate makes the killing easier. Wounded and dying, Patrick is helped by Sharon L'Amour. She has lost a brother to government killers, but he can see no scars on her heart, no hate. As they fight together, she teaches him her kind of courage is just as vital to their people's survival as his. And she learns his hate is fueled by love for his murdered family, his people, and, most of all, her. As the youngest leader in the resistance, he finds himself fighting not for revenge, but Sharon's future and his people's liberty.