In Denton, Arkansas, the fate of the high school football team rests on the shoulders of Billy Lowe, a volatile but talented running back. Billy comes from an extremely troubled home: a trailer park where he is terrorized by his unstable
mother’s abusive boyfriend. Billy takes out his anger on the field, but when his savagery crosses a line, he faces suspension.

Without Billy Lowe, the Denton Pirates can kiss their playoff bid goodbye. But the head coach, Trent Powers, who just moved from California with his wife and two children for this job, has more than just his paycheck riding on Billy’s bad
behavior. As a born-again Christian, Trent feels a divine calling to save Billy–save him from his circumstances, and save his soul.

Then Billy’s abuser is found murdered in the Lowe family trailer, and all evidence points toward Billy. Now nothing can stop an explosive chain of violence that could tear the whole town apart on the eve of the playoffs.

In this Southern thriller two families grapple with the aftermath of a murder in their small Arkansas town.After his son is convicted of capital murder, Vietnam War veteran Jeremiah Fitzjurls takes over the care of his teenage granddaughter, Joanna, raising her with as much warmth as can be found in an Arkansas junkyard. He teaches her how to shoot and fight, but when the girl goes missing, Jeremiah fears the dreaded Ledfords, fanatical white supremacists and notorious meth dealers, have finally come to collect a long-overdue blood debt.Loaded to the hilt with weapons from his past, Jeremiah sets his sights on the last person who saw his granddaughter: her new boyfriend, Colt. With the young Romeo in tow, Jeremiah plunges headlong into the heart of the Ozarks, but Jeremiah isn’t the only one with an arsenal of secrets—the star-crossed couple has been hiding something too.Eli Cranor, author of the critically acclaimed Don’t Know Tough, brings his ferocious storytelling power and deep knowledge of his native Arkansas to this unforgettable Southern noir about family and how far some will go to honor, defend, or—in some cases—destroy it.