The story of a botched bank robbery that occurred August 22, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York and turned into a bizarre hostage situation lasting all day. The lead robber wishes to obtain funding for a sex-change operation for his gay lover.

What initially appears to be a bank heist turns into something far more complex and deadly. When forensic scientist Theresa MacLean seizes the opportunity to trade places with the city's best hostage negotiator, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to save the lives of innocent people as well as her own.

James Donovan is a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible task to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot.