Glory Goodman lives with her family, the Bairds, on Stinking Creek, in Northeastern Tennessee. The family, like many families who've lived in this Appalachian conclave for centuries, is tight-knit, and fiercely devoted to a life that features one another. Like her mother and her deceased father, Glory is hot-headed and wild at times, but basically, a good child, who is treading the fine line of womanhood. Most of her family, including her Uncles, Harley and Early, are understanding of her hormonal-driven outbursts, but her mother, Sissy, is intolerant of her ways, which fans the fire of Glory's rage. Eager to escape her mother's wrath, she strikes out on her own, with the assistance of evil incarnate, to prove that she is no longer a child. She soon discovers that life beyond Stinking Creek is harsh and crawling with the seamy underbelly of society; those whose primary mission is to extinguish life's sacred fire. The author paints a quick portrait of these people who use drugs to enslave others and to feed their monstrous appetites for depravity and corruption. He also depicts the goodness and strength of a family that will not be defeated in their desperate search for the return of their loved one; and their desire to return to the lives that were carved out for them by their ancestors on Stinking Creek.