While studying anthropology in Arizona, graduate student Jacob Colt is shocked to discover that his great-grandfather was hanged for a ritualistic murder in rural Oregon nearly a hundred years earlier. Angered that the truth has been kept from him, Jacob returns to his hometown in Oregon and begins searching for the truth behind the crime, but almost immediately a grisly murder occurs at the small college where his father is a professor. As Jacob learns more disturbing details about his family's leadership in an ancient goddess cult, he finds that the two murders, separated by decades, may both be rooted in the cult's worship of a sacred object. Complicating his investigation is his involvement with three young women involved in the current murder investigation, all of whom he finds attractive--and all of whom have their own secrets. Ultimately, he knows he must unravel the most complex and dangerous mystery of all: who is the Black Fountain Goddess?