In the 1950s in Augusta, Georgia, an unlikely friendship is born between two outsiders: Lukash "Luke" Lipton--a Jew, and T.C. Simmons--who aspired to, and eventually became, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In their youth they form an unbreakable bond as "blood brothers." Years pass, however, and their lives become separate: Luke establishes himself as a partner in a prestigious Wall Street law firm. T.C. remains in Georgia and becomes enveloped in the miasma of bigotry. It isn't until forty years later that their brotherhood faces its greatest test: T.C. has been charged with murder for the alleged lynching of a black man--a man who was torched in a Georgia swamp all those years ago. Luke and his co-counsel, Payton Simpkins, a brilliant young black attorney, must combine their talent and intellect to defend T.C. in a trial where the "real" truth and the "best" truth must be divined. Luke is forced to make some arduous decisions, and in the end, this book compels the reader to do the same.