A demon, an unstoppable, Cerberus-like hellhound, lives in the low-country forests of Edisto Island. Uncompromising in its task to protect the occupant of a hidden grave, a murdered slave boy named Isaiah and a deed which rests with him, the man-eating specter has recently killed the son of the local land baron, William Jeffers. Jeffers, a vile and ruthless man who is feared by all, claims to have ownership of the entire island of Edisto Beach and has murdered to protect that claim as he searches for the one document buried somewhere on the island that can dispute his ownership. That document is a deed from Jeremiah Howard, a 19th century plantation owner who deeded Edisto Beach to the family of Moses Freeman, his former slaves, among them Moses's sweet-natured, twelve year old son, Isaiah. A rival plantation owner, Manley Jeffers, William's 19th century ancestor, murdered the entire Freeman family for the deed but it was lost in 1889 when Manley himself was killed by the same avenging demon that has just killed William Jeffers' son. Long departed from Edisto, what is left of Jeremiah Howard's modern day family has now returned to reclaim their ancestral home and with them, twelve year old Kirk Howard, who unbeknownst to his parents, is supernaturally and forever bound to the ghost of Isaiah Freeman and the bone-crushing poltergeist that protects his grave and his secret.