Children´s right advocate Shelly Trotter is out of her depth in criminal court defending a sixteen-year-old accused of killing a cop. She took the case because she has a connection to the kid dating back to his troubled younger days, when the charges were a little less serious - and the stakes weren´t quite so high. But as she begins to delve into the murky details of his defense - and his identity - Shelly discovers that she may have an even deeper connection to this young man. He could be her son. And if he is, nothing - not legal ethics, not political pressure - will stop her from keeping him off death row...

