The illustrated Blackwater Novels are set in the 1930s along the fictional Blackwater River and Blackwater Swamp, near the town of Turpentine, Georgia, and in the countryside near a very real Birmingham, Alabama. Identical twins Johnny and Will are orphaned and separated as toddlers. Johnny is adopted by an abusive aunt in Tennessee. Will is adopted by a loving, affluent couple who live in the country near Birmingham, Alabama. When he grows into boyhood, Johnny runs away to reunite with his twin.

A Nest of Snakes is the third in the Blackwater Novel Series and finds the twins reunited. As they are sleeping in a tree house, they overhear a plot. Later, they return to the Blackwater River to connect with their friend Rad Fox to help Linc and Sheriff Clyde who are in danger from the Klu Klux Klan. Once again, good people join together to confront racial hatred.