In the backwoods of Ohio, Willard Russell's wife is succumbing to cancer, no matter how much he drinks, prays, or sacrifices animals at his ''prayer log.'' Meanwhile, his son Arvin is growing up, from a kid bullied at school into a man who knows when to take action. Around them swirl a nefarious cast of characters-a demented team of serial killers, a spider-eating preacher, and a corrupt local sheriff-all braided into a riveting narrative of the grittiest American grain.