Jesse Stone is an ex LA cop who has taken the job of police chief in Paradise Massachusetts. His drinking & his damaged relationship with his wife define him as much as his supreme skill at policing his patch. When Crow an Apache hitman turns up in Jesse Stones office he is intrigued & very much on his guard. Ten years before Crow was part of a gang that had taken a woman in the town hostage when a bank raid went wrong. The hostages were released unharmed thanks to Crows moral view that you didnt kill women but he also got away with enough money not to have to work again. So why is Crow back in town? Why has he come to see Jesse? & why has he taken a job of kidnapping a young girl & her mother? All questions to which Jesse has to find answers as things start to go badly wrong in Paradise.