Growing up in a family of eight in an Irish neighborhood ghetto in Boston, Massachusetts, is not an easy life. Cody realizes early on that a kid from this neighborhood can only become a priest, a cop, or a criminal. Cody chooses the latter. He quickly adapts to living on the streets. He desires the life of a criminal and is mentored by some of the most reputable gangsters known around Boston.
A career criminal, Cody pleads guilty to murder in the second degree and enters one of the harshest maximum correctional institutions in the country. But incarceration doesn't stop Cody; he adjusts easily to prison life. During his sentence, he escapes twice and commits several murders. With assistance from other inmates, he's accused of forming execution squads to maintain power. He helps organize a prison takeover while plotting to commit more murders. Death has been his best friend all of his life.
Cody has other friends in some strategic positions within the Massachusetts justice system. He's not the average man nor is he the average criminal. Although Cody never had a problem escaping prison, he realizes that he can never escape his past.
