Purvis Driggers is a backwoods, South Carolina loser with little sense and less hope for a promising future. When he tries to rob an old man rumored to have money stashed in the walls of his house, Purvis finds no money and, worse, finds the old man dead. On his way home through the woods he falls for Martha whom he sees being baptized in a creek. Purvis spends the novel trying to impress Martha in increasingly bizarre ways, all the while worried that the FBI will pin the murder on him. Martha is trapped in her own desperation and plans to manipulate the gullible Purvis into helping her escape her sorry life.

Meanwhile, Brother Andrew, a silent monk from the small monastery by the creek, wanders the swamp to watch birds, practice archery, and meditate. He also sees and is attracted to Martha, which aggravates his restlessness and religious doubts.

Told from the characters’ alternating points of view, the story winds through dark humor, murder, dismemberment, a twisted love triangle, and a monster known as the Hairy Man. Is Purvis demented or just crazy with love? Does Martha care for Purvis, or will she simply, coldly exploit him? Is Purvis capable, as he claims, of doing anything for her? Can Andrew forsake his religious calling for a woman he has only admired from afar? Who killed the old man, and what about the money supposedly hidden in the walls of his house?  

This tragi-comic story of perversion, betrayal, and mystery hurtles toward a shocking ending the reader will not soon forget.