Tanis Barlas is, in no particular order, a daughter of Lamia, a snake-woman, a killer and a hunter, collecting men to mate with her mother and continue the precious line. She hates it, like she hates her messed-up family and everything that goes with it.

And now Lamia's favourite daughter has gone missing, and Tanis is sent into enemy territory—the snake-haired gorgons, whose turf starts at the edge of the swamp—to find her, starting a chain of events that will change every part of her life.