Nilhollow-six-hundred-plus acres of haunted woods in New Jersey's Pine Barrens-is the stuff of urban legend. Amid tales of tree spirits and all-powerful forest gods are frightening accounts of hikers who went insane right before taking their own lives. It is here that Julia Russo flees when her violent ex-boyfriend runs her off the road . . . here that she vanishes without a trace.

State Trooper Peter Grainger has witnessed unspeakable things that have broken other men. But he has to find Julia and can't turn back now. Every step takes him closer to an ugliness that won't be appeased-a centuries-old, devouring hatred rising up to eviscerate humankind. Waiting, feeding, surviving. It's unstoppable. And its time has come.

Praise for the novels of Mary SanGiovanni

"A feast of both visceral and existential horror." -F. Paul Wilson on Thrall

"Filled to the brim with mounting terror." -Gary A. Braunbeck on The Hollower

"Nightmarish and vivid." -FearZone on The Hollower