It's a classic setup for a scary story: A boy arrives at an orphanage; the headmaster acts strangely; the other children can't seem to be trusted. But as people go missing and bodies turn up, this slippery and knowing Gothic murder mystery upsets all of our expectations.
A new arrival at an isolated school for orphaned boys quickly comes to realize there is something wrong with his new home. He hears chilling whispers in the night, his troubled classmates are violent and hostile, and the Headmaster sends cryptic messages, begging his new charge to confess. As the new boy learns to survive on the edges of this impolite society, he starts to unravel a mystery at the school's dark heart. And that's when the corpses start turning up.
Colin Winnette is the author of Haints Stay (Two Dollar Radio, 2015), Coyote (Les Figues Press, 2015), Fondly (Atticus Books, 2013) Animal Collection (Spork Press, 2012), and Revelation (Mutable Sound Press, 2011). His books have been translated into French and Italian, and his writing has appeared in Playboy, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Believer, Lucky Peach, and numerous other journals and anthologies. He lives in San Francisco.
"A witty and grisly gothic unlike anything I've ever read. You should absolutely read this." --Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble
"Writing as if in reaction to the glut of rapid-paced thrillers that read more like screenplays or plot points with dialogue, Winnette . . . exhibits a triumph of patience--exceedingly rare in young authors--and a gothic introspection that is a welcome antidote . . . This deeply haunting mix of literary aesthetics, murder mystery, and the dark intensity of contemporary thriller will be savored by fans of Jac Jemc's The Grip of It, Donna Tartt's The Secret History, Marisha Pessl's Night Film, and Peter Straub's Shadowland." --Library Journal (starred review)
