An ex-con, just released from jail, returns home only to become immediately embroiled in a robbery. A tenacious FBI agent hounds him every step of the way.

Whatever tycoon R.C. Mallon wants, he takes. Obsessed with money and power, he crushes all who stand in his way. But now, the woman who was once the object of his desire has dared take away the most precious of all Mallon's possessions, his ten-year-old son — the heir to his corrupt and violent empire. And all hell has been let loose.

Mady McKeon, a 10-year-old girl living in a farm town, is deeply affected by the death of a schoolteacher and her grandfather. Her father sells part of the family farm to the Air Force. The Air Force starts building a missile base. Mady watches a TV show that describes the devastation of missile attacks during World War II, and she runs away from home. Her parents reconcile and find her, and the entire town is brought together.