In the heart of Appalachia, newspaper publisher Ava Logan should feel joy and pride as she watches her thirteen-year-old daughter being baptized in the cold water of Jackson Creek but she can't rejoice when thoughts of an employee who failed to show up for work keep pulling her attention away.
Ava's convinced something horrible has happened to Scott. Then his backpack is found floating in the same river her daughter is being baptized in. While clue after clue leads her deeper into the hollers of Appalachia ripe with tradition and folktales, storefront religion, and the darkest of secrets, Ava discovers truths about those close to her and about her own beliefs.
With her own life in jeopardy, how deep will she go to find the truth? What secrets will she expose? What secrets will she keep?
