A new novel by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY.
On a scorching hot summer day in Elkwood, Alabama, Claire Lambert staggers naked, wounded, and half-blind away from the scene of an atrocity. She is the sole survivor of a nightmare that claimed her friends, and even as she prays for rescue, the killers—a family of cannibalistic lunatics—are closing in.
A soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder returns from Iraq to the news that his brother is among the murdered in Elkwood.
In snowbound Detroit, a waitress trapped in an abusive relationship gets an unexpected visit that will lead to bloodshed and send her back on the road to a past she has spent years trying to outrun.
And Claire, the only survivor of the Elkwood Massacre, haunted by her dead friends, dreams of vengeance… a dream which will be realized as grief and rage turn good people into cold-blooded murderers and force alliances among strangers.
It’s time to return to Elkwood.
In the spirit of such iconic horror classics as and , begins at the end and studies the possible aftermath for the survivors of such traumas upon their return to the real world—the guilt, the grief, the thirst for revenge—and sets them on an unthinkable journey… back into the heart of darkness.
Review“From the first chapter I found myself comparing to the absolute best work of . You might be thinking that I’ve listed an awful lot of great authors here and mentioned more than a few classics in this review and that there’s no way this book could live up to that hype. You’d be wrong. is not only the best novel I’ve read all year, it is one of the most horrifying ones I’ve ever read. I hope you give it a shot.”
—“It’s odd that an Irish transplant to the Northern US has written . I’ll look forward to Burke’s next work just as much as I hated to see this one end. I would highly recommend to lovers of old fashioned horror fiction with a twist. If you’re going to read just one noir cannibal revenge novel this year, should fit the bill.”
—