As racial tension escalates in the wake of the court-ordered desegregation of the city's public schools, the already-on-edge neighborhood of South Boston is rocked by a series of seemingly gang-related killings. But when three children are murdered, police detective Tommy Doyle begins to wonder if something more sinister is at play. Are the killings all connected, and how could the killing of the children so closely mirror a nightmare from his own childhood?As the investigations continue, Doyle forms an uneasy alliance, but soon finds himself being pulled into a dark journey through his own psyche.