First published 2005
Shad Jenkins walks out of prison after two years. He had beaten the man who attacked his sister Megan. Now he comes back to Moon Run Hollow in the southern mountains. Megan is dead. Nobody will say how she died or why someone found her body on Gospel Trail Road. The dirt path leads to the gorge above the Chatalaha River where yellow fever victims once came to die. The mountain town hides its secrets well. Strange children roam the streets. Snake handlers practice their rituals in darkness. Illegal moonshine poisons the community slowly. Shad pushes through the superstitions and lies to learn what killed his sister. The Blood Dreams that have tormented him since childhood grow stronger and more urgent. They show him glimpses of an enemy he cannot see. Spirits from the hollow whisper around him. His grip on reality loosens as he uncovers the truth about Megan and discovers who wants him destroyed.
Genres: mystery, crime, supernatural, dark
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Chatalaha River, Gospel Trail Road, Moon Run Hollow
Period: present-day
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Bantam
Content warnings: death