America in the 21st Century – a dark contrast of decaying cities, Outlands ruled by roving bands, and Chemlands populated by mutants. Ordinary citizens are oppressed by money manipulators and threatened by daily violence. Their only hope of restoring sanity to a word gone mad is a new breed of law enforcers.

Marshal Thomas Jefferson Cade makes all the rules – and breaks them. Cade and Janek — his dedicated cyborg partner, and an infuriatingly logical masterpiece of engineering — Cade investigates the bizarre disappearance of Darksiders in New York. When a female reporter – Cade's sometime companion – also disappears, the case becomes highly personal.

The marshal team follows the trail of a ruthless industrialist to an asteroid mining colony, where Cade has to make an agonizing choice between love and justice.