In the heat of the city, a man is out of time: speeding in a beat-up Ford Tempo, blasting easy-listening music.Reporter Steve Everett drinks too much, makes love to his boss's wife, and has just stumbled upon a shocking truth: a convicted killer is about to be executed for a crime he didn't commit.

In the cold confines of Death Row, Frank Beachum is also out of time.Ready to say good-bye to the wife and child he loves and hello to the God he still believes in, Beachum knows he did not kill a convenience store clerk six years ago.But in a few hours--if Steve Everett can't find the evidence to stop it--a needle is going to pierce Frank Beachum's skin.

The killing machine is primed.The executioner is waiting.And so is the priest.Now the clock is ticking down and the race is on--between the reporter and his demons, between the system and its lethal flaws, between the last innocent man and society's ultimate crime ....