Johnny was trying to outrun a Hell of a past, and he thought he had been doing a decent job of it. He had found himself a life in Anthem City, and a semblance of a family, finally experiencing what he considered to be peace. Then a mysterious woman walked past the stoop where he and his boys spent their time, and he found that he couldn't get her out of his mind.

That night Anthem was plunged into a complete blackout, and the heat of the summer caused the city's residents to boil over; rioting, looting, and setting the city alight. Along with the blackout came the threat of a serial killer at large on the streets of Anthem, but that was the least of Johnny's worries.

He knew all too well that the real peril wasn't from the people in the streets, nor from the killer in the shadows. The danger was coming from above and below, and Johnny would be the only one who could stop the soldiers of Heaven and Hell from tearing his city and his family apart.