Sixteen-year-old Annaya Roth is fighting for her life to fit in at yet another new school—and to escape the Dead.

Annaya and her mother, Samantha, just moved to the small mountain town of Asherville. The people there are nice enough. They smile and wave—but Annaya knows to not get too close.

Samantha is tired of running. She just wants to keep her daughter safe. So, in one last desperate attempt to save Annaya—Samantha moves them to the one place she never wanted to step foot in again.