Carroll's potent slice of Southern fiction centers on the struggles of Jessie Buckstone, who at fourteen loses his murderous, bootlegging father and is left an orphan fending for himself in rural 1935 Georgia. Jessie is soon faced with a daunting decision: to face starvation, or to follow in his father's wicked footsteps. Jessie and Grady Lewis are childhood friends who grow into bitter enemies. Grady is the son of Sheriff Luther Lewis, a ruthless man in is own right. Grady follows his father as the new Sheriff, but is tortured that the one person he can't put under his thumb is his old friend, Jessie Buckstone. Grady's hatred toward Jessie burns. Blood Kin is a classic tale of man shackled by his birthright. Jessie comes to realize that a vindictive, whiskey scented life had brought his father only pain and years of slowly dwindling options. Jessie sees this same narrowing road his father walked laid out in front of him, but he battles to the very end not to be owned by it.