The story is about a lawyer, Brent Walker, who returns to his hometown, in Georgia. Ten years earlier, his wife committed suicide and he left town and worked in the Atlanta Prosecutor's office. Two years ago, his father drowned while fishing and his mother has early stage of Alzheimer's disease. He get a job as legal counsel in the local paper mill. The mill has invested heavily in the town and offers good wages, retirement, and they provide in-house medical insurance. One of the three founders of the paper mill, Chris Bozin, is dying and he wants to clear his soul. What he and his two partners have been doing over the last 20 years is complying a Priority list of current and retired employees whose medical conditions is costing the company millions of dollars. Their in-house security chief ensures those whose with expensive medical conditions are eliminated in a manner in which no one will question their deaths. Bozin documents want he and his partners have been doing and seals it in an envelope. He gives the information to Brent to open and follow his instructions. After Bozin is put on the Priority list and killed, Brent realizes hem his mother, and others he cares about are in mortal danger from the company. He has to figure out how he and the others will survive as well as bring down the remaining two partners as well as the killers the company employs.