Revenge is awesome.

In the mid-nineteen sixties, the gang structure of Philadelphia is similar to the feudal systems of old.  Marissa Eden Wells, a young black catholic, is caught up in that structure. Her allegiance to the gang forges enemies, perpetuating a deep-rooted hatred, which culminates in her brutal rape; she's left to die. But Marissa survives and responds in the same manner as the traditions of yesteryear; she gathers her forces and retaliates. Regrettably, during the skirmish a loved one is killed. Marissa's attempt at personal vengeance goes awry.  She leaves her enemy alive but wounded, setting into motion an unrelenting determination for revenge.

Marissa's loss inspires her bid for atonement. Along the road to reformation, she is thrust into a newly integrated society. There she meets Tristan Dion Corbett, a young white southerner, and discovers true love is colorblind, once the ambiguities of racial profiling are overcome.

Years later, secure and happy in her new life, further contentment derails when her past intrudes on her present, insidiously turning into history repeating itself. An enemy from long ago has come for payback. Not content to destroy only Marissa, her nemesis goes after her family. Marissa realizes she has lost her edge, and to save her family, she must revert to her old ways.  Setting herself up as bait, she draws the perpetrator away, knowing it will mean the forfeiture of her life.

After all, it's now clear to her, revenge never ends until all the players are dead.