"It's hard to turn the other cheek with a rifle barrel in your mouth." In 1957 rural Pennsylvania, Angus Hardgrave works an oil rig, fights dogs, distills Walnut Whiskey... and murders wives, friends, anybody. The presence in the walnut tree on a spur called Devil's Elbow instructs Angus what to do, and so far, following the visions has led Angus to a simple country bounty. But Angus wants more. Alone when her father dies, eighteen-year-old Emeline Margulies decides to follow the voice of God in all things. When she hears that she is to escape the clutches of a violent Korean War vet by marrying Angus Hardgrave--a man rumored to have pitiable luck with wives--she humbles herself and follows God's will. And finds herself trapped between a stalking rapist and a serial killer. As each decision leads her closer to destruction, Emeline must choose between following the faith that got her into trouble... Or the moxie, resolve, and evil within that promise to get her out.