A compelling moral fable in the shape of a gritty, twist-filled thriller. Wall Street Journal John Shannon is a petty thief on the run. A three-time loser framed for murder, he knows that he s facing life in prison or death by lethal injection. Then, a bizarre text message draws him to a meeting in the dark of night. A foreigner who calls himself the Identity Man offers Shannon an incredible chance to start again: a new face, a new home, a new beginning. In a ruined city trying to rebuild, he gets work as a carpenter, and falls in love. It seems too good to be true and it is. It turns out this city is crawling with crooked politicians, gangsters, and dirty cops all of whom seem to want Shannon dead. Moving through the shambles of a town, he s got to ferret out the secret of his new life and fast if he wants to be left with any life at all. A gripping thriller. Entertainment Weekly A work of intense realism pervaded by sorrow, mercy, hope and ultimately, transcendence. Washington Times Andrew Klavan is the author of such classic suspense novels as True Crime , filmed by Clint Eastwood, Don t Say a Word , filmed starring Michael Douglas, and Empire of Lies . He has been nominated for the Edgar Award five times and has won it twice. "

Maze Runner meets The Sixth Sense in this high-stakes survival story from New York Times bestseller Andrew Klavan. What should have been an ordinary morning is about to spiral into a day of unrelenting terror. As a reporter for his high school newspaper, Tom is always on the lookout for an offbeat story. But from the moment he woke up this morning, his own life has been more bizarre than any headline could ever tell. The streets of his town are suddenly empty and silent. A strange fog has drifted in from the sea and hangs over everything. And something is moving in that fog. Something evil. Something hungry. Closing in on Tom. Tom's terrified girlfriend Marie says the answers lie at the Santa Maria Monastery, a haunted ruin standing amidst a forest blackened by wildfire. But can he trust her? A voice that seems to be coming from beyond the grave is warning him that nothing is what it seems. Only one thing is certain: with his world collapsing around him, Tom has only a few hours to recover the life he knew--before he, too, is lost forever in this nightmare city. "Klavan retains his James Patterson--like gift for keeping pages turning, and the mystery behind it all--having to do with Tom's school-newspaper exposé on the performance-enhancing drug use of the football team--is a juicy one, and well handled." --Booklist | "Klavan's background in thrillers comes to the forefront, and the mysterious clues lead to elegant, intense chase sequences and a well-crafted mystery." --Publishers Weekly | "Klavan again hits readers with a story filled with such vivid imagery that one might find themselves looking over their shoulder to make sure they aren't the one being followed. The story--set partly in reality and partly somewhere else--grabs the reader from the first page and makes one wonder what could possibly happen next. The writing is stellar." --RT Book Reviews