Hope Is Dead

Murder has come to Mayberry! Former Marine Aviator and war hero Zack Goodson is a fish out of water. He regrets promising his wife he would give up his life of thrills and action to move to her sleepy backwater hometown in rural Missouri. Though overqualified, he has accepted a position as a deputy with the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department despite his misgivings. After ten years in the Corps, the adjustment from warrior to small town cop is harder than he could have ever imaged. Unfortunately for him, his predicament is about to become worse. The peace in his little part of the world is about to be broken. On his first day on the job, he and his training officer, Mark Langford, find a young woman face down in a secluded creek. An unknown predator is on the prowl. The disfigured body is identified by local billionaire Nick Pagano as his daughter. The pressure mounts as Pagano demands action and threatens to have the whole department fired. The next day, Mark and Zack find the sheriff's only detective murdered in a burned-out trailer. Out of options, the sheriff assigns them to the case. They must stop this vicious killer before more of their neighbors die.