For a parent and a community, there is no greater loss than the death of a child. This was the nightmare that Ellie Lane's parents endured seven years ago in the enchanted land of the Cherokees deep in the Smoky Mountains.
Then the miracle occurred. Seven years after her death, Ellie returns.
Her still-grieving parents confront fear, superstition, and suspicion as Ellie begins her new life, the second life she has somehow been given. In a world where people are divided by the contradictions of skepticism and fanaticism, science and religion wage war to claim the answers. Cults are born to worship the young girl as a deity. Legends and apocalyptic visions come to life. Celestial signs portend that something beyond comprehension is coming. A rough beast to end all days? Ancient astronauts in chariots of fire? Winged seraphs strumming harps of gold?
Does Ellie's return mean a new beginning for mankind - or its end?