Deep in the heart of western North Carolina lies Marshall, a quiet, unassuming mountain town that believes in protecting its own-especially if they harbor secrets. That't the way it's always been-and always will be-a belief instilled in them for generations. For a curious boy like Jesse Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grownups. An adventurous, precocious boy, Jess is enormously protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he isn't supposed to-an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess's. It is a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he is not prepared. While there is mch about the world that still confuses him, he now knows that new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil, but the balm of freedom and deliverance as well. (ARC)