When a mild-mannered English professor, John Dykstra, faces a challenge that shakes him to his core, he has to make a choice - leave an innocent woman to die, or summon his alter-ego, the hardboiled mystery writer Rick Hardin to save her.

Following the suspected suicide of her friend and fellow teacher, Julie Taylor is hired to take over the senior math class for the last few weeks of school. It's been a difficult year for Julie and this is a fresh start for her and her teenager daughter Miya. Though Julie hopes that being both the new kid and the new teacher's daughter won't be too hard on Miya, she can't help but worry when her daughter becomes fast friends with the school's resident mean girl, Amy Turner.