After doing 13 years in prison for the murder of his wife, mechanic Harry Graham is out on parole and looking to rebuild his life in a small seaside community. He settles into a trailer park and finds both a job and a girlfriend. But things get difficult for Harry when his estranged son, Jimmy, shows up. He witnessed his mother's murder as a child and, after years spent in foster homes, has come looking for revenge.

High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his girlfriend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.