"Venturini doesn't write in words and sentences. Instead, he lines the page with barbwire, concertina wire and spike strips that deliver the story deep into the reader's skin." -#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Chuck Palahniuk
A town ruled by evil. A man ruled by darkness. Only one can survive.
Curtis Quinn is a Chicago mob legend with a particular set of skills and a price on his head. When the woman he loves disappears, Curtis follows her trail to the occult town of Harlow, where no one is allowed to leave, and an enigmatic, sinister overlord known only as "the Mayor" rules by an autocratic regime.
Beth Jarvis is a plucky teenager unwrapping the secrets of her hometown--Harlow--and the mysterious ceremony that awaits her on her eighteenth birthday. What Beth doesn't know is the truth about her sister Kate, who escaped their strange town over a decade ago and has evaded the Mayor and his disciples ever since.
What Curtis doesn't know is that Kate is the woman he's fallen in love with, and she's running from a threat far greater than the mobsters who want to kill him. His fate collides with Beth's as she tries to escape Harlow and the disgusting fate that awaits her, and Curtis finds himself unraveling a mystery that leads to an impossible and terrifying conclusion―that the Mayor of Harlow is more than just a man, and the hardest target he's ever tried to kill.