Marked for Life
Alabama Astronaut
Society & Culture
Cody Coots, fourth-generation serpent handler, has an unusual childhood. By age 6, he's already handling mock serpents with his sister, Trina. They use leather belts as props. It all makes him yearn for a normal childhood. He just wants to ride his bike, practice drums on pots and pans, and watch professional wrestling with his father, Jamie - the most famous serpent-handling preacher in the world. But after a terrible act of evil devastates Cody at 8 years old leaving his innocence in tatters, he turns his fiery wrath upon his parents, his church, his God – and even himself.