Never make an enemy of a murderer.

In 1970, the Ford County Times went bankrupt - and to the surprise and dismay of many, was bought by 23-year-old college dropout Willie Traynor. The paper’s future was grim, until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper prospered.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Despite his threats, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But nine years later, his influential family get him paroled.

And then, one by one, the jurors who convicted him start to fall victim to terrible murders...

‘A master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos’ – Irish Independent

’John Grisham is the master of legal fiction’ – Jodi Picoult

’The best thriller writer alive’ – Ken Follett