A fictional story on the real life work of St. Louis-based Jesuit priest, Father Charles Dismas Clark, is told, he who is assigned to work in a Catholic high school, but who feels he can best serve in providing guidance to convicts and ex-cons, the latter specifically by helping them reintegrate into society, including finding them housing and employment in a society that is less than welcoming to them, largely resulting in those ex-cons once again committing crimes and being sent back to prison otherwise. This work often places him at odds with the authorities as he is unwilling to betray the confidence of those convicts and ex-cons, even in matters of a criminal nature, they who only confide in him in he earning their trust. He is able to enlist the assistance of lawyer Louis Rosen, who eventually buys into Father Clark's view of assisting this marginalized population. The story told is of young ex-con Billy Lee Jackson, just released from prison and who is destined to recommit crimes in being all he knows. Despite their difficult introduction in which Billy wanted to show how tough he is, Father Clark is able to get through to him to help him find gainful employment as well as a place to live. In the process, Billy is eventually even able to find love, with socialite Ellen Henley who can see the inherent goodness in him. The problem becomes if Billy will turn back to a life of crime if he feels that even one person isn't giving him a fair shake. Things become even more complicated with journalist George McHale, who wants it both ways by trying to write an exposé of Father Clark in what he sees as the Father's protection of the criminal element, while glorifying crime in the way he shapes his stories.