Detective Michael Bennett... a year after his wife's death... vs The Teacher, who is on a 3 day rampage to kill people who are rude and condescending (fancy men's clothes clerk, maitre d, brother's inlaws, etc.- triggered by the suicide of his half brother... exmilitary pilot, excellent shot (with a gun in each hand), has written a mission statement that he sent to the newspaper warning the people of New York to be nice...

and at home, the flu has hit... and poor Michael, his priest grandfather, and Mary Katherine have 10 children in differing stages of flu, valiantly trying to survive..

and when The Teacher realizes the Bennett has thwarted him from his last targets - his brother's rich inlaws - he goes to Bennett's home, gets Bennett back there, takes him and the youngest to jack a plane with the intention of ramming it into the building where the inlaws live... Michael manages to wrench the plane from the Teacher right before hitting the statue of liberty, the airforce blasts their tail over the bay... the plane plummets... Michael survives, and takes the teacher down - and believes he sees his wife, Mauve, coming to him...

and it ends with Michael surrounded by family as his broken wrist & ankle & 3 ribs heal... and his kids remind him that the best part of his wife lives on... and he now is confident that he will be reunited with her again...