Thirty-three-year-old Annabeth Jefferds has spent her entire adult life in Seattle, de-programming the lessons she learned as a child of the South: stay quiet, do what you’re told, don’t ask questions. Until a phone call reporting that her younger sister is sick and under the care of her abusive father sends her back to South Carolina and the trauma she endured.

    Once home, the weird keeps piling up. Strange animals roam the woods. Her father insists on carving cutlery from bones and hosting macabre tours through the family home—helleboretours.com. Her sister spends her time in and out of coherent thought. Gum—the ex-boyfriend Annabeth thought she’d spend her life with—insists on taking her out. They all consume her waking hours. And then there’s the house… That damned house.

    Annabeth’s southern roots run deeper than she thought possible, and she may never be able to dig herself out.

    Read chapter one.

    Below is a running playlist that gets me in the mood to work on this book.