Arizona's Meza Azul penitentiary is a technological wonder built to hold the worst of the worst. But somehow a prisoner has breached the foolproof security, opened the cells, and now holds more than one hundred guards and workers hostage. Cold, brilliant, and crazy, Navy sub commander-turned-double murderer Timothy Driver is in control. And one hostage will die every six hours until he gets what he wants: rogue journalist Frank Corso.

But Captain Driver wants a lot more than the ear of a once sympathetic writer who penned a bestselling book about Driver and his crimes. Joined by a cold-blooded hayseed murder machine named "Cutter" Kehoe, Driver's got a surprise or two in store: an ingenious undetected escape right under the noses of the storming government troops, followed by a maniacal cross-country killing spree... with Frank Corso along for the ride until the savage, bloody end.