David Gale was an active member of Deathwatch, an anti-capital punishment activist group. Constance is a fellow Deathwatch activist. When Constance is found raped and murdered, Gale is convicted of the crime. Now Gale awaits execution, and with less than a week before his date with the fatal injection, Gale agrees to tell his story to Bitsy, a nervy journalist from a major newsmagazine. As she discusses the facts of the murder with Gale, it occurs...

Detective Terence McDonagh battles his own demons, including compulsive gambling and drug addiction, in post-Katrina New Orleans, where he struggles to keep the city, and his prostitute girlfriend, safe from harm.