Sergeant Malcolm Ainslie of the Miami police homicide department is about to take a well-earned family holiday when he is called away on an urgent mission. A criminal on Death Row with only a few hours to live before being sent to the electric chair has requested that Ainslie hear his confession. Will Elroy 'Animal' Doyle finally confess to the series of grisly double murders for which Ainslie hunted him down? Or, as Ainslie is a former Catholic priest, does the convicted man's desire to 'confess' have a totally different meaning?