For nineteen-year-old Jonah Argone, survival is all about going to work, completing mundane daily tasks, and playing his role as a productive member of society. A citizen of the Nation of Triibehl's Forestry Division, his duty is to worship Lord Osain as his only god-paying homage to the leader's greatness with every thought and deed.

But Jonah has a deadly secret. Instead of worshipping Lord Osain, he and his family believe in something else completely: a universal power known as the Hand. In Triibehl, this makes them members of the Unwanted-societal outcasts punished with death if...