During the early dawn of a summer morning in July, Jonathon Parker is awakened by a scream and runs outside to find his neighbor standing over a dead body. Suddenly, the harmony that has surrounded his peaceful cul-de-sac for years is shattered.

An eyeless, hairless head of a corpse is not what Jon expects to see on his suburban lawn first thing in the morning, yet overnight, he and his neighbors are unwillingly cast into a nightmare of horrific proportions. All of a sudden, something is consuming his quiet little neighborhood in Highland, Illinois, and no one can explain why. Unfortunately, the first dead body will not be the last, and what follows in the days and especially the nights to come will forever change the lives of those who live on one street, in the middle of one town, in one part of the country.

The Devonshire cul-de-sac residents are decent people who thought they were ready for anything ... but it turns out no one is ready to face a ruthless killer seeking vengeance.

"It came and went too fast, technically, for human comprehension. It was an infinitesimal piece of a moment-already history before any coherent thought could be formed. Yet, as all who experienced it knew deep down, something as significant as it was inexplicable had just happened, something mysterious that had never happened before ..." In a moment that's gone almost before it arrives, everything changes. What the townsfolk come to describe as a "flash" dramatically alters the lives of every person who experiences it. At first, it is the animals: the pets, the cattle, and the wildlife of the small Midwestern town of Highland, Illinois. Soon enough, the insidious symptoms spread to the people of Highland. A besieged police chief, his best detective, and the city manager try their best to understand and confront the evil gradually taking over their world. It keeps growing, though, and they soon realize that it might be bigger than all of them. This is a book that will capture you - and then won't let you go - starting with the very first page. It is the most haunting story since "Night of the Living Dead."

Eighteen-year-old Frank Krane is the kind of kid who fits in at school and yet roams the edges of high school cliques. After a football injury stunts his football career and his parents divorce, he finds himself rebellious and adrift.

When Frank is suspended from school for impertinence, a series of unfortunate events are set in motion. After sharing breakfast with a known troublemaker, Frank wanders around town aimlessly. When he attends a party later that night, Frank meets April, a very attractive young woman. Frank immediately senses something is troubling this beautiful newcomer, but even an intimate chat doesn't compel April to share what has her distressed.

Come morning, Frank discovers he's the last known person to see April alive-her family has reported her missing. When the police place him under house arrest, Frank knows he must do something to help both himself and April. After escaping, Frank works with April's friend Belinda to piece together possible scenarios of where she might be.

As Frank and Belinda pursue leads, they walk into something much more sinister and frightening than they bargained for. Frank knows he must save April-and himself-before it's too late.

A young man discovers friendship, and much more, in the most unlikely place, a local doughnut shop. His friends are a group of old men with pasts that help cement this friendship into a tale of uncompromising loyalty when one of their group takes a matter into his own hands.

Brady is confronted by the new kid at school who is a bully. He must face his fears and make peace with his enemy. What he discovers surprises him.

Professor Hamlit Bidwell wants no more than for everything to be in its place and for life to be predictable as it has always been. When he receives notice that he is soon to be visited by his long lost niece and her little boy, he is mildly irritated. He has no idea how dramatically his life and his whole outlook on it is about to change.

"It came and went too fast, technically, for human comprehension. It was an infinitesimal piece of a moment-already history before any coherent thought could be formed. Yet, as all who experienced it knew deep down, something as significant as it was inexplicable had just happened, something mysterious that had never happened before ..." In a moment that's gone almost before it arrives, everything changes. What the townsfolk come to describe as a "flash" dramatically alters the lives of every person who experiences it. At first, it is the animals: the pets, the cattle, and the wildlife of the small Midwestern town of Highland, Illinois. Soon enough, the insidious symptoms spread to the people of Highland. A besieged police chief, his best detective, and the city manager try their best to understand and confront the evil gradually taking over their world. It keeps growing, though, and they soon realize that it might be bigger than all of them. This is a book that will capture you - and then won't let you go - starting with the very first page. It is the most haunting story since "Night of the Living Dead."

During the early dawn of a summer morning in July, Jonathon Parker is awakened by a scream and runs outside to find his neighbor standing over a dead body. Suddenly, the harmony that has surrounded his peaceful cul-de-sac for years is shattered.

An eyeless, hairless head of a corpse is not what Jon expects to see on his suburban lawn first thing in the morning, yet overnight, he and his neighbors are unwillingly cast into a nightmare of horrific proportions. All of a sudden, something is consuming his quiet little neighborhood in Highland, Illinois, and no one can explain why. Unfortunately, the first dead body will not be the last, and what follows in the days and especially the nights to come will forever change the lives of those who live on one street, in the middle of one town, in one part of the country.

The Devonshire cul-de-sac residents are decent people who thought they were ready for anything ... but it turns out no one is ready to face a ruthless killer seeking vengeance.

Eighteen-year-old Frank Krane is the kind of kid who fits in at school and yet roams the edges of high school cliques. After a football injury stunts his football career and his parents divorce, he finds himself rebellious and adrift.

When Frank is suspended from school for impertinence, a series of unfortunate events are set in motion. After sharing breakfast with a known troublemaker, Frank wanders around town aimlessly. When he attends a party later that night, Frank meets April, a very attractive young woman. Frank immediately senses something is troubling this beautiful newcomer, but even an intimate chat doesn't compel April to share what has her distressed.

Come morning, Frank discovers he's the last known person to see April alive-her family has reported her missing. When the police place him under house arrest, Frank knows he must do something to help both himself and April. After escaping, Frank works with April's friend Belinda to piece together possible scenarios of where she might be.

As Frank and Belinda pursue leads, they walk into something much more sinister and frightening than they bargained for. Frank knows he must save April-and himself-before it's too late.

Christopher had always been afraid to go near the haunted Marston Mansion, just like everyone else. The very day he decided he was going to be the first one to go into the gates, he got the scare of his life. But he was determined to confront his own fear; even if it meant doing it alone. What he found was so powerful, he could tell no one about it. If he did, he would lose it all .