Hearts Strange and Dreadful

It’s 1819 in Rhode Island. Hester lives with her uncle’s family after her own was killed in a fire. When an ailing stranger rides in from Hester’s former hometown, a sickness and a terrifying story of a town gone mad follow him, infecting Hester’s family, friends, and neighbors, and spreading death. But there may be more than a plague behind this nightmare. Led by the strong and sympathetic but damaged Hester, this story’s terror is driven by the three-dimensional characters and the extremely well-rendered setting. Readers will become immersed in the place and its people; will feel their loss when townsfolk succumb to disease; and will cower in horror as the occult origin of their situation is revealed. Pervasively creepy and featuring a dread that compounds on itself until it bursts in horrific fashion, this is a story that will be enjoyed by a wide range of readers.