In a small Maine valley, thirteen-year-old Pierce Morin, born blind and deaf, possesses a terrifying gift: he can hear evil whispering--and knows an elusive, deadly force is stalking the people he loves....

Detective Jake Crowley has run far away from his Maine hometown. But a bizarre shootout in Galveston, Texas, finally draws him home: to a woman he can barely face, to the unsolved mystery of his mother's murder, to a family curse and a valley that's fallen under the spell of a serial killer....

For Jake, redemption lies in unlocking Pierce's gifts and hoping the boy can show him the way to stop the terrors that plague him. But while young Pierce can begin the search, only Jake can finish it--by looking evil in the eye and claiming both their birthrights....

From the Paperback edition.