MaryAnne Carpenter, newly separated and raising her two children, receives the news that her friends the Wilkersons have died suddenly and their only child - MaryAnne's god child - is orphaned. Was it a chance, tragic mishap that took their lives? Or was it murder? Joey Wilkerson is a sad, silent adolescent harbouring secrets that are nightmarish beyond MaryAnne's imaginings and as early winter closes in on the Wilkersons' beautiful, lonely ranch, Joey's sly secretiveness and volatile temper begin to fill MaryAnne with fear. Soon a series of horrific murders draw ever closer to the family, killings that defy solution by a desperate police force and MaryAnne begins to know the true meaning of terror. Cover art by Danilo Ducek.