Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings, but destroyed himself in the process. In his final days, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death, but was saved; of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade. Parker is not like other men. He died and was reborn. He is ready to wage war. Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation and murder. All in the name of the being they serve. All in the name of the Dead King.