Twenty-eight years ago, Detective Michael Flowers became entangled in the twisted sadistic mind games of a killer in Cartersville, Georgia. Now, once again, the tranquility of his town is pulled back to unearth a psychotic darkness born in the shadows of upper middle class luxury. The body of a college student is found hanging from the roof of the University's main building. Detective Flowers knows this is the work of a devil. At the age of thirteen, Megan Thompson was thrown down the stairs and stabbed seventeen times with a pencil that broke off in her back. Left for dead and partially paralyzed after this violent attack from her brother, Junior, she is taken in and cared for by a wealthy family. She struggles to escape the memories of the cold and painful dark world that she once lived. Her hopes for a bright future vanish and the shadows of her past come back to haunt her when Junior is released from a mental state facility. Rebekah Davenport, a reporter looking for a career making story, clips at Detective Flowers' heels, pointing out evidence and opinions along the way contrary to his experience and intuition. Left to her own devices, Davenport falls in over her head pursuing the truth in a life threatening dance with the devil. When a second body is found pulled apart in sadistic torture, Flowers teams up with Davenport to investigate possibilities he may be too biased to see. They follow the trail of the victims to Megan's group of friends and a tight lipped business called "Pleasure Island" until an unexpected revelation brings the past colliding into the present.