Cody outsmarts a prostitute on a Middlesboro mountainside.Pimps can set traps, stealing everything from unwitting "Johns." But Cody will not be robbed, beaten or killed. He knows the land too well.Most importantly, on Top of the World, he will not be discovered by the people he loves most.

Cody outsmarts a prostitute on a Middlesboro mountainside. Pimps can set traps, stealing everything from unwitting "Johns." But Cody will not be robbed, beaten or killed. He knows the land too well. Most importantly, on Top of the World, he will not be discovered by the people he loves most.

17. "Top of the World"

Cody Coots is a fourth-generation serpent handler. By age 6, he handles mock serpents with his sister, Trina, in the church, using leather belts for props. Cody secretly yearns for a normal childhood. 

He likes to ride his bike, play drums, and watch WWE wrestling with his father, Jamie. (Jamie is the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher.) A terrible act of violence befalls 8-year-old Cody, shocking the serpent handling community. A preacher pleads guilty to charges of deviant sexual abuse, but it's too late: Cody's innocence is shattered. Anger boils inside him, so he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, and even his God.

As he cruises the backstreets of Middlesboro, Ky, looking for nothing but trouble, Cody's sins begin piling up. But the consequences do, too. 

Is Cody beyond salvation? Or, is he as the community describes him: "Marked for life?"

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Cody Coots is a fourth-generation serpent handler. By age 6, he handles mock serpents with his sister, Trina, in the church, using leather belts for props. Cody secretly yearns for a normal childhood. He likes to ride his bike, play drums, and watch WWE wrestling with his father, Jamie. (Jamie is the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher.) A terrible act of violence befalls 8-year-old Cody, shocking the serpent handling community. A preacher pleads guilty to charges of deviant sexual abuse, but it's too late: Cody's innocence is shattered. Anger boils inside him, so he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, and even his God. As he cruises the backstreets of Middlesboro, Ky, looking for nothing but trouble, Cody's sins begin piling up. But the consequences do, too. Is Cody beyond salvation? Or, is he as the community describes him: "Marked for life?"

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17. "Top of the World"

17. "Top of the World"

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