The Surrogate

A federal judge is executed in New Orleans. An unknown assassin hangs him from a giant oak tree in Audubon Park. A female reporter happens upon the scene soon after it happens and scoops this sensational story for her newspaper. She attempts to follow up story but finds the police baffled. She meets and falls in love with an older FBI agent assigned to the case.

Michael Bannister, the antihero, is embittered and frustrated at the federal judicial and penal systems because he believes his brother and brother's wife died due to callous indifferences of federal judges and prison officers. He conceives a plan of terrorism amid it forcing reforms.

His plan involves recruiting fellow inmates on an extremely selective basis, choosing only those in which unconditional allegiance could be expected.

Federal judges, penal and parole officials are selected for execution. No official is chosen who was ever connected with any of the inmates involved.

The story begins with the first assassination and continues through six executions, during which demands are made for reform.

Murder in cold blood, raw sex, tender love scenes, and bitter irony all join hands to tell this story of unusual suspense.