From the author hailed as "an important talent, a storytelling writer of poetic narrative power" (Los Angeles Times Book Review) comes a dazzling novel of psychological suspense. "This is the darkest story I've ever heard." With these haunting words, Thomas H. Cook begins a tale of love and its aftermath, of a town sent reeling from a moment of passionate betrayal. At its center was Kelli Troy and the town of Choctaw, Alabama. And on one hazy summer afternoon decades ago, a searing burst of violence engulfed Breakheart Hill. For one man who knows the truth about those shattering events, it is a memory that would become his awful secret.

A small-town doctor is haunted by the decades-old murder of his first love in this “novel of stunning power” by an Edgar Award–winning author (Booklist). Ben Wade is a middle-aged doctor in Choctaw County, Alabama, and back in 1962 he dreamed of spending the rest of his life with Kelli Troy. But he never had the chance to confess his love for Kelli before her body was found on Breakheart Hill. Decades later, the small town is still haunted by that violent death—especially Ben. He’s never been able to move on, because he’s the only one who knows what really happened that summer afternoon . . . “A haunting evocation that gains power and resonance with each twist of its spiral-like narration.” —Publishers Weekly “A climax that is so unexpected the reader may think [Cook] has cheated. But there is no cheating here, only excellent storytelling.” —Booklist “Cook has long been one of my favorite writers.” —Harlan Coben, New York Times–bestselling author of Hold Tight “[A] masterful crime novelist.” —Toronto Star

On a dark, rainy night in October 1900, George E. Bailey, caretaker of Breakheart Hill farm, disappeared. He no longer made his daily milk runs to town or stopped at the tavern for his favorite cherry rum. Some suspected foul play right away, as Bailey's "wife" had recently gone to Maine, leaving Bailey alone with his farmhand, John C. Best, who was known to be a drunk and a potentially violent man. Nine days later, when Bailey's dismembered body was fished out of a local pond, all eyes quickly focused on Best. Crowds descended on the farm, and the sensational murder captured headlines in Boston's newspapers. Using official records and newspaper archives, authors Douglas L. Heath and Alison C. Simcox uncover the facts and bizarre circumstances of this shocking tale.

When I was young, I knew God loved me. I followed Him. Being His child was natural and easy. Then I hit puberty, and my world changed. There were things I saw that I wanted, things that I thought He might not want me to have. I started to wander. Still, I was not stupid. I knew I still needed Him as Savior; it was His Lordship that gave me pause. Eventually I stripped Him of His Lordship and went to live in the "fallen world." I kept Him as my Savior, but I made no effort to follow Him. I loved my life in the fallen world. Still, it had its challenges. There were times I would find myself in the dreaded "Valley of the Shadow of Death." I knew somehow He was responsible. It was in the "Valley" that I would find myself needing Him. Eventually I would have to call on Him. And rescue me He would, but I refused anything but temporary rescue. I would be thankful for a few days, but the desire for my old life in the fallen world would soon reclaim me, and I would put Him back on the shelf. There was so much out there to grab for, and the fallen world did push and encourage me to go for happy. There was a problem with that: I was created to be filled with joy, His joy. "Happy" was just a temporary, dim simulation. I finally had to face the questions. Does He really love me? Is He really to be trusted? Is He really the God of the Bible? If the answer to these questions was yes, could I really have enough confidence in Him to make Him my center and follow Him?

It is autumn 1937 when a mystery woman appears in Port Alma, a sea village nestled on the chilly coast of Maine. A fragile, green-eyed beauty, the woman arrives with little more than the clothes on her back and a wealth of unspoken secrets. Before a year goes by, she will flee Port Alma on the same bus that brought her there. But before she goes, she will irrevocably alter the lives of two brothers — leaving one dead, and the other perched on the edge of madness. There is much that Dora March has hidden. But in Port Alma, Maine, there are other secrets, too....

"Comprising over 600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and hilly terrain, Breakheart Reservation has expansive views that reach south to Boston, north to New Hampshire, and east to the Atlantic Ocean. What began as a parcel of common land awarded to new settlers arriving in Saugus in the early 1700s is today considered a gem in the Massachusetts state park system. In the 1890s, businessman Benjamin Johnson and two friends bought the land to create a private hunting retreat called Breakheart Hill Forest. The tranquil forest was catapulted into the limelight in 1900 when their caretaker was brutally murdered. Three decades later, Johnson and his partners sold the land to the state. It became a camp for the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps and was later transformed into a recreational area"--Publisher description.

Sara Labriola is a married woman haunted by the shattering secrets of her past—and terrified of the future. Tired of living in fear—and knowing that if she stays in her marriage she'll be killed—Sara decides to do the only thing she can: she makes herself disappear. One afternoon, without telling a soul, she packs a single suitcase and leaves her life in Long Island behind. In New York City, she will reinvent herself. She will change her identity, and maybe even get the happy ending she's always dreamed of. But that dream is about to become a nightmare when her father-in-law decides to make her pay for abandoning his son. Leo Labriola runs his modest but lucrative criminal organization like he does his family—with unspeakable brutality and zero tolerance for disobedience. He's determined to teach Sara a lesson and he'll stop at nothing to do it. Now six differently desperate and dangerous men—each with the power to destroy her—are on Sara's trail. But none of them suspect that the woman they are seeking has a dangerous secret of her own. For Sara is leading all of them down a path of private demons, past sins, and the deadliest peril.