Teacher Jake Downey has relocated to a small town in Wyoming hoping to escape the urban problems of his last assignment. His myth of rural bliss is shattered when a former police officer comes unglued, builds a bomb and takes Jake's class hostage. The heroism of his true story unfolds as the hostage drama takes many surprising turns towards the phenomenal conclusion.

A child witnesses drug dealers murder his parents. He escapes and grows up wild in the city's slums. Years later he emerges to help the residents of the area who are being terrorized by street gangs and drug dealers.