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. Phoenix mounts a televised trial of his own–in which Stacy Tarrant and Tony Lord are helpless defendents, millions of viewers are jurors, and–unless his chilling demands are met–Pheonix is the unstoppable executioner….