Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage carries a mortal secret that separates him from the world. But his exile comes to an end when a brawl at a Mississippi rap festival triggers a bloody mass shooting that nearly takes the life of his daughter. Antebellum plantation homes continue to burn, and the deadly attacks are claimed by a Black radical group as historic acts of justice. Panic sweeps through the tourist communities, driving them inexorably toward a race war. But what might have been only a regional sideshow of the 2024 Presidential election explodes into national prominence, thanks to the stunning ascent of Robert E. Lee White, a Southern war hero who seizes the public’s imagination as a third-party candidate. To triumph over the national party machines, Bobby evolves a plan of unimaginable daring.