Someone is killing federal judges. Eleven deaths in eleven months, some of the murders have been set up to look like accidents or illnesses, while others are clearly the work of skilled assassins. The November victim died so horrifically that even veteran law enforcement officials are stunned. Fearing that the next victim will be Judge Irene Hannah, friend and mentor of Mary Crow, the FBI enlists Mary's aid in protecting this distinguished jurist. As Christmas approaches, Mary returns to the North Carolina mountains to talk her stubborn old friend into federal protection. But the plotters behind these crimes have a prophecy to fulfill; a twelfth judicial murder that will set a vast conspiracy in motion. When, despite Mary's best efforts, Judge Hannah disappears, Mary must follow her on a terrifying chase into an archaic mountain estate where a rogue killer and his army of "soldiers" are waiting. Soon Mary will have to fight for survival in a place that abides neither law nor mercy...only a darker justice, rendered only by those courageous enough to deliver it.