The human race hangs by a thread the thickness of a single gene: RC-714. The gene, which unlocks the millennia of genetic traits stored in junk DNA, gives crops the ability to rapidly evolve and thrive in any environment. But RC-714 is passed on when consumed. Any creature - mammal, reptile, fish, or insect - that eats the genetically modified crops becomes a slave to the Change. Bodies morph into unrecognizable abominations. Intellect takes a back seat to ravenous hunger. And all the world's species eat each other toward extinction.
Racing against this impending outcome, Peter Crane and his family attempt to reach a laboratory in Boston where a slim hope of saving the human race from extinction exists. But before heading northeast, they must visit the swamps of South Carolina's Hellhole Bay to find a scientist who can help undo the damage done by ExoGen, the corporation that created and unleashed RC-714. Upon reaching Hellhole, the family is captured by a man named Mason, who not only survived the Change, but managed to keep a small community alive as well - a community that is subject to his every carnal desire and whim.
Trapped in the clutches of a man whose heart is as twisted as the monsters that roam the Earth, Peter, Ella, Jakob, Anne, and Alia must fight for their freedom from a literal hellhole. Danger lurks behind every door, stalks beneath the swampy waters, and descends from the sky. As enemies - both human and ExoGenetic - close in, surviving will be harder than ever, and for some, impossible.
