First published 1999
Edgar Watson steps off the boat onto his sugarcane farm in the remote Florida Everglades of the early 1900s. The scattered settlers on neighboring islands already know what he brings with him. Violence has shadowed Watson wherever he goes, and whispered stories follow him like smoke. He works his isolated land, trying to carve out something resembling a normal life from the swampy wilderness. But workers start disappearing from his farm. Bodies go missing. The tight community of Everglades settlers grows afraid as unexplained deaths mount around Watson's island. His neighbors find themselves backed into an impossible corner. They can allow Watson to remain and risk more killing, or they can become killers themselves to stop him. The humid air thickens with dread as the community wrestles with a choice that will define them all. This is the story of a man who cannot escape what he is and the people forced to decide how far they will go to protect themselves from the monster in their midst.
Genres: historical-fiction, suspense, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: monster-in-our-midst, small-town
Setting: Florida Everglades
Period: Early 1900s
Audio Cassette · Recorded Books
Content warnings: violence