Rawlings’ search takes him to the Louisiana back-country where he is immediately recognized as an outsider and his questions are not welcomed. When an invitation is extended to visit the homestead of a remaining family member of whom he’s been looking, Rawlings begins to realize there is more going on in this small town than just family drama. As Rawlings descends further into the history of the Hamilton family, he sees the swampland is rampant with everything from shape-shifters, mermaids, humanoid alligators, witches, and dragons -- and he begins to suspect that something more than an inquisitive hunch took him there.