First published 2026
Silas Tucker's football career ends in a devastating accident. The former star athlete heads back to Cross Rivers, North Carolina, the backwoods town where his father died violently years before. He finds his family's farm barely surviving and reconnects with Taylor McCarter Webb, his closest friend who has married in his absence. Silas tries to rebuild his life in this small community, but the Southern Mafia has other plans. The criminal organization controls the local drug trade, human trafficking, and eliminates anyone who threatens their operations. Silas gets dragged into their violent world against his will. The country roads around Cross Rivers become battlegrounds where survival depends on simple wisdom: never travel alone, and never venture out after dark. Silas must navigate this dangerous territory while protecting what remains of his family and confronting the forces that destroyed his father.
Genres: fiction, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, redemption
Setting: Cross Rivers, North Carolina
Period: contemporary
416 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: violence