A new minister in a struggling church must contend with unsupportive congregants, a bitter rival clergyman and violent thugs in a local cult. Sexually impotent throughout his life, he finds himself falling in love with a new organist of a different race, but an act of cruelty ends any hope of healing and bonding. Told in the first person, the minister describes his life experience and most of the relevant factors leading up to his decision to murder five human beings. He writes his story while serving time on death row awaiting execution.
