When college professor Jackson Pierce and his students uncover a hidden pattern linking global events to corporate profit, what begins as an academic project becomes a deadly revelation. Jackson and his wife, a Shakespeare scholar, realize all too late that the pattern they've uncovered-code-named Branded-connects powerful corporations, media outlets, and political elites in a conspiracy worth killing for. Pierce's published findings alert the firm responsible for the violent game of product placement. They respond with threats and power against the professor's family, students and journalists, as the company seeks to hide the truth that some of the biggest recent tragedies weren't accidents at all, but perfectly executed campaigns designed to sell, distract, and control. As assassins close in and reputations burn, unlikely allies must decide whether truth itself can survive in a world where stories are weapons, and everyone, everywhere, is already... branded.