On a snowy night in 1935, a decades-old secret begins with a killing Walter Stachiew has powerful arms, matinee-idol looks, and an easy charm that he uses to distract his neighbors in the Bronx from his bad habits, which include a love of liquor and a fondness for teenage boys. When he is found one night, beaten to death with a shovel, the natural suspect is his drinking buddy, Stanley Paycek, who is tried, convicted, and sentenced to die in the electric chair. He is just a few minutes from death when his son Willie whispers the truth about who killed Walter Stachiew. Willie is a hateful boy, rat-faced and ostracized, but he and a few of his schoolmates know more about Stachiew's death than they will ever tell. As they grow into men, finding success all over the globe, the secret of that night binds them together forever. As the hate festers in Willie's heart, it threatens to one day destroy them all.