A murder trial, a jury deliberating intensely on the death penalty, venal political corruption, and a staunch investigation set the stage for this story of two judges. One is a respected, seasoned veteran of the bench who has risen from Magistrate Court Judge to District Court and then to the Chief Justiceship of the state's Supreme Court; the other a young Administrative Law Judge, riveted by his duty, immovable and undeterred by enticement or violence, and unwilling to be silenced or swerve him from his sworn oath to uphold the law. Set in the cities and courthouses, the mesas, mountains, and high desert plains of New Mexico, this book drives forward like a charging battle tank, and all these events lead to the prize of a vacant U.S. Senate seat and all the potency and might that goes with it.