"The community of Prosperous, Maine has always thrived when others have suffered. Its inhabitants are wealthy, its children's future secure. It shuns outsiders. It guards its own. And at the heart of Prosperous lie the ruins of an ancient church, transported stone by stone from England centuries earlier by the founders of the town. But the death of a homeless man and the disappearance of his daughter draw the haunted, lethal private investigator Charlie...

"Private investigator Charlie Parker descends upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and will face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder"--

In the beautiful Maine woods, a partly preserved body is discovered. Investigators realize that the dead young woman gave birth shortly before her death, but there is no sign of a baby. Private detective Charlie Parker is hired by a lawyer to shadow the police investigation and find the infant, but Parker is not the only searcher. Someone else is following the trail left by the woman, someone with an interest in much more than a missing child.

John Connolly returns with a prequel that goes back to the very beginning of Private Investigator Charlie Parker's astonishing career with his first terrifying case.

Chaos and murder arrive in Charlie Parker's hometown of Portland, Maine, with two connected crimes which prove to be among the most complicated of Parker's entire career.