Mason Mims has taken refuge in the swamps of the Carolina Lowcountry. Suspected of killing his brother's family, Mims, a former Navy Seal, uses that black water region to shield him from the authorities.

Meanwhile, a body count begins to mount along the landscape of cypress trees and Spanish Moss. Though law enforcement combs the swamp, they are no match for Mims, who knows the land as though he was at God's elbow when it was designed.

Police Chief Willie Bartlett leads the manhunt for Mims, and he wants state and county law enforcement to take Mims down and leave as quickly as possible before they uncover the crookedness that runs deep in the Cookeville Police force. Special Agent Jack Swanson senses there's more to the story than hunting a man who's killed his brother's family.

With Mims slipping in and out of the swamp, and the death toll rising, a select group of men realize they have unleashed the beast in a man who has nothing left to live for, and who possesses a skill set making him virtually unstoppable.