Tom Piccirilli

An ex-cop, Finn was left literally blinded by violence. The one thing he can still see is the body of his wife, Dani, and a crime scene that won't fade from his mind's eye. Now a professor, Finn never would have guessed that an isolated girls' prep school could be every bit as dangerous as city streets. Especially when he stumbles upon a local girl lying in a graveyard in the middle of a raging blizzard. Finn may live in a world of total darkness, but it's about to get a splash of red. The memories that torment him still have the power to kill, and a group of innocent students has been put in harm's way by a pair of vicious criminals stalking Finn for unknown reasons. Secrets are creeping from the shadows around him--the kind that even a man with perfect vision never sees until it's too late. They're about to become terrifyingly clear to Finn--and it all begins with the scent of blood. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Tom Piccirilli's The Last Kind Words.

From the moment he saw the girl in the snowstorm, Flynn had less than an hour to live. But he'll remember his last fifty minutes long after he's dead. As an investigator for Suffolk County Child Protective Services, Flynn has seen more than his share of misery, but nothing could prepare him for the nightmare inside the Shepards' million-dollar Long Island home. In less than an hour, that nightmare will send him plunging into a frozen harbor--and awaken him to a reality even more terrifying. They've nicknamed Flynn "The Miracle Man" because few have ever been resuscitated after being dead so long. But a determined homicide detective and a beautiful, inquisitive reporter have questions about what really happened at the Shepard house--and why the people around Flynn are suddenly being murdered. Flynn has questions of his own, especially when one of the victims dies while handing him a note: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. Flynn has returned from the Midnight Road--and someone wants to send him back.

This lyrical tale of evil, loss, and redemption is a stunning addition to the Southern gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor and Harry Crews. A Choir of Ill Children is the startling story of Kingdom Come, a decaying, swamp backwater that draws the lost, ill-fated, and damned. Since his mother's disappearance and his father's suicide, Thomas has cared for his three brothers--conjoined triplets with separate bodies but one shared brain--and the town's only industry, the Mill. Because of his family's prominence, Thomas is feared and respected by the superstitious swamp folk. Granny witches cast hexes while Thomas's childhood sweetheart drifts through his life like a vengeful ghost and his best friend, a reverend suffering from the power of tongues, is overcome with this curse as he tries to warn of impending menace. All Thomas learns is that "the carnival is coming." Torn by responsibility and rage, Thomas must face his tormented past as well as the mysterious forces surging toward the town he loves and despises.