Kenneth Abel

Danny Chaisson is an up-and-coming prosecutor until his longtime benefactor, a Louisiana political boss, calls in his chit. Chaisson performs as commanded, but resigns from the D.A.'s office to preempt additional collisions of conscience and politics. He stoops to running small-time errands for the politico as a second career, until he narrowly misses being present for a lethal hit at a local restaurant. When it looks like he'll be sacrificed as the...

A small town in St. Tammany's Parish, just north of New Orleans, is home to a slave burying ground, so long forgotten that it doesn't appear on any maps. When a group of white teenagers appropriate "the burying field" for after-hours drinking, racial tensions in the area begin to rise. One night the drunken party turns violent, and the town explodes. Danny is sent to St. Tammany by a wealthy real estate developer to protect his interest in a valuable...