In the Cage — Kevin Hardcastle

A feared cage fighter in Mixed Martial Arts, Daniel is closing in on greatness -- until an injury derails his career. Out of work in his country hometown, Daniel slips into the underworld, moonlighting as muscle for a childhood-friend-turned-mid-level-gangster. While his wife works nights and his twelve-year-old daughter gets into scraps of her own, Daniel tries to escape and build a nobler life for his family -- but he sinks deeper into a violent, unpredictable world, soon sparking a conflict that can only be settled in blood.

Written with equal parts tenderness and horror, In the Cage weaves together a grittily masterful tale of violence, family, and resilience as Kevin Hardcastle penetrates what it means to survive in the rural underclass.