Tony Lord (abridged)

The nation is stunned silent when presidential hopeful James Kilcannon is shot dead in front of his rock-star girlfriend Stacy Tarrant. Fiercely independent attorney Tony Lord dares to defend the shooter, but the already bizarre plot takes another twist. As America watches, a mysterious and ruthless figure, known only as Phoenix, takes to the airwaves - and takes the wife of a wealthy newspaper mogul and Stacy's manager as his hostages.

Attorney Tony Lord left his hometown and the bitter memories of his girlfriend's murder behind. Now, 28 years later, he's pulled back to Lake City to defend his closest high school friend against a charge of homicide. Sam Robb, the married father of two, is a local football legend. But he was also the last to see 16-year-old Marcie Calder alive, and as shocking forensic evidence at the trial reveals, he is the father of her unborn child. Probing the darkest recesses of love and friendship, Lord will discover things too disturbing to ignore.