First published 2006
Mark Sieber stops at a Missouri truck stop and spots a missing child from a poster sitting at his table. The girl can only say "I'm sorry, mister" before police and media arrive. Mark retreats to his hotel room to call his wife but gets taken hostage by a group of children aged 12 to 19. These kids have escaped from "Grendel," a sadistic pedophile who tortured and mutilated their faces. They need Mark's normal appearance to help execute their plan for justice and get home. Over several days, Mark learns about the horrors these children endured and how they fought back. He discovers Grendel operates within a larger network that traffics children for molestation and mutilation. As Grendel closes in on their location, Mark must find courage he never knew he had to help these damaged kids survive.
Genres: fiction, crime, horror, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, moral-ambiguity, redemption
Setting: Missouri, United States
Period: Contemporary
304 pages · Hardcover · Cemetery Dance Publications
Content warnings: child-abuse, pedophilia, trafficking