A hot-button legal case fuels a community's smoldering hostility—but the dark secret at its heart could set the town ablaze. Public defender Julia Geary moves through life in simmering resentment—at her husband, a soldier killed in Iraq, leaving her a single mother; at her low-paying job; and at her overbearing mother-in law, whose home she shares. She longs for a breakout case, and it arrives when members of the high school soccer team report seeing a teammate—Iraqi refugee Sami Mohammed—assaulting a girl in the locker room. In a town where animosity against refugees has already reached a fever pitch, Julia throws all her energy into Sami's defense. She finds an ally in high school principal Dom Parrish, who believes Sami is innocent, and the case suddenly turns red hot. Then she begins receiving vicious threats against her family, and a senseless act of violence leaves Sami in a coma. And finally, a crop of new evidence emerges that points to the town's most prominent citizens and pits Julia against powerful forces set on burying the truth once and for all. If Sami survives and Julia can prove him innocent, it will be the case of a lifetime. But now it's her life that's on the line.

Searing social commentary meets chilling suspense as public defender Julia Geary takes a case destined to rock her small town to the core, for fans of Attica Locke. Public defender Julia Geary’s star is rising, and now she’s got her first murder case defending local denizen Ray Belmar in the death of a homeless man. But Julia’s professional and personal challenges are mounting. First, she’s assigned an intern whose arrogance is insufferable. Then, her widowed mother-in-law, whose home Julia and her son Calvin share, announces her plans to re-marry, meaning they’ll have to find a new place to live. And to top things off, Julia’s boss removes her from the case, saying that she’s lost perspective, replacing her with an attorney who advises Ray to plead guilty. Julia can’t shake the suspicion that the murder, and the subsequent killing of a homeless woman, is linked to the death of a state legislator who had been crusading for political reform. With the help of Duck Creek’s homeless community and her old friend, Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Peterson, she launches her investigation—but then the anonymous threats start pouring in. Just as Julia begins to uncover the ways the system is shockingly stacked against those on the fringes of society, she makes an even more damning discovery. Someone close to her is harboring a dark they are desperate to protect—even if that means silencing Julia once and for all.