From your bestselling storyteller Orson Scott Card comes a gripping story of terror within a small town.

Stage Fletcher, his pregnant wife DeAnne, and their three children proceed to Steuben, NEW YORK, with high expectations. But Step’s fresh job using a software program company actually is a snake pit, and eight-year-old Stevie’s college is worse, an unending parade of misery and disaster. As Stevie retreats into himself, focusing more and more on a incomprehensible video game and an evergrowing troop of imaginary close friends, the Fletchers’ concern turns to terror. There is something eerie about his devoted, invisible fresh playmates: each shares the name of a kid who has vanished from the sleepy Southern town. And as bad strikes out from the most trusted corners, it’s instantly apparent that Stevie can be next on the list.