New York Times best-selling author John Farris pens a once-in-a-lifetime thriller that ensnares listeners in an addictive web of intrigue and chilling terror. When nurse Mally Shaw is found dead in 1952 Evening Shade, Tennessee, 14-year-old mute Alex Gambier is devastated. He misses the tenderhearted young woman who befriended him. And he is furious with her killer. But how will his silent witnessing of her unspeakable death affect him-and others? "Solidly developed characters . unusual blend of tenderness and gruel. Farris [is] one of the most effectively surprising horror writers [today]."-Publishers Weekly