Cody Coots, fourth-generation serpent handler, has an unusual childhood. By age 6, he's already handling mock serpents with his sister, Trina. They use leather belts as props. It makes him yearn for a normal childhood. He just wants to ride his bike, practice drums on pots and pans, and watch professional wrestling with his father, Jamie - the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher. But after a terrible act of evil devastates Cody at 8 years old, leaving his innocence in tatters, he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, his God – and even himself.