Introduction

The smell of smoke and burning flesh still felt real on my skin.

I woke up gasping, my hands flying to my throat, expecting to feel the char and ruin from the fire I died in.

But I was back in my own bed, weeks before the Lone Star Smoke-Off, the competition that ended my life.

My father, Andrew Johns, the patriarch of the famous Johns barbecue dynasty, stood by my side, feigning pride while secretly grooming my half-sister, Gabrielle, to steal my legacy.

They' d sabotaged me before, but this time, it was more than just a competition.

I discovered my mother' s hidden diary, revealing the horrifying truth: my father poisoned her to seize the family empire and erase her, and me.

Returning to the competition, they stripped me of everything-my smoker, my reputation, even my mother' s last memento, the "Whiskey River" grill.

I was left with nothing but the burning humiliation and the phantom pains of a betrayal that led to my death.

How could the man who raised me be a murderer? And how could I, disarmed and discredited, fight back against a conspiracy that spans generations and seems to defy logic?

This time, I was playing for keeps. I vowed that vengeance would be served, slow and hot, even if I had to become the fire itself.