James Bryant is a relatively unknown detective with an otherwise average career. But for one detail: he caught a notorious serial killer from the Midwest. A psychopath, dubbed the South Side Sadist, Richard Allen Fenton, is locked up in the El Dorado Correctional Facility, awaiting his execution on Christmas day. Though a relatively unknown serial killer, Fenton is a master of manipulation whose killing spree lasted over three decades, spanned five states, and claimed eleven victims...so far. Although the two have not been in the same room since the final appeal, Fenton has one more game to play. Striking a deal with the Department of Justice, Fenton agrees to reveal the identities and locations of his other victims. He asks for only one thing in return; to have the cop who put him away take down a series of confessions, find the bodies, and write all of Fenton's misdeeds into a three-volume set to be published for the world to see.

Bryant, a functioning alcoholic battling his own demons, is offered a choice; take the deal or hand in his badge. Against his will and at the detriment of his ever-degrading mental health, Bryant agrees. Backed by a task force with the FBI, Bryant is forced into weekly meetings at the Correctional Facility with Fenton, who torments Bryant at every turn. While Bryant thinks he is just "serving his time," Fenton has other ends in mind. In their regularly scheduled meetings in the prison, Fenton tortures Bryant with the horrifying details of his murderous career, while an unhinged disciple of Fenton's seeks to wreak havoc on the task force on the outside. In prison or out, Bryant fights to stay one step ahead of the killers as they seek to destroy his life and that of everyone around him.