In the harsh, unforgiving landscape of the Outback, Charlie Burns is presented with an impossible proposition by local law enforcer Captain Stanley: the only way to save his younger brother Mikey from the gallows is to track down and kill Arthur, his psychotic older brother.

Meanwhile, Captain Stanley has other problems to contend with. Having given up their comfortable life, he is desperate to shield his innocent wife Martha from the brutalities of their new surroundings. He also faces mounting pressure from renegade natives and his superior Eden Fletcher to bring order to the region.

An uneasy sense of foreboding grows as events close in and each character faces a punishing moral dilemma that leads to a murderous climax.