After a wild night, wealthy Michael Reston's adulterous wife Charleen comes home with her dress in rags; murder results. Top New York defense lawyer J.G. Blane, whose own marriage exists in name only, arrives in Desert View, Nevada to find the townsfolk and politically powerful Sheriff Hoak distinctly hostile to the Restons. In due course, Blane discovers he's been "taken for a ride," and that quiet desert communities can be deadly.

苦涩的前拳击手厄尼·德里斯科尔（Ernie Driscoll）因在拳击场上眼睛受伤而不得不结束自己的职业生涯，他在纽约当出租车司机谋生。他的妻子波琳对自己的贫穷生活感到不满，她与罪犯维克托·罗林斯有一段秘密恋情，并想和他一起离开这个国家。然而，当罗林斯的下家因为波琳的知情而拒绝购买钻石时，罗林斯谋杀了波琳，并试图将罪行归咎于厄尼。厄尼在逃跑的过程中得到了他的好朋友琳达·詹姆斯的支持。在他们的帮助下，他成功地揭露了真正的凶手。之后，两人开始了新的生活。