Overview

A recovering detective in rural Georgia is pulled into a disturbing case when a child’s bracelet is found inside the stomach of a black bear—seemingly random, until it connects to a missing girl. What begins as an isolated investigation quickly expands as more bodies surface along the state’s waterways, each one placed with deliberate intent. As jurisdictional lines blur, the theory of a lone killer gives way to something far more dangerous: a hidden network operating across communities, bound by a shared belief in purification through violence. While leading the investigation, he’s forced to navigate the same town that once covered up his own past, raising a chilling possibility—this system isn’t outside the community, it is the community. As symbols, rituals, and patterns begin to reveal themselves, the case stops being about who did it—and becomes about how deep it goes. Because by the time he understands what he’s facing, he may already be surrounded by it.