The Silent Boy

Lieutenant Emma McPherson is no stranger to tragedy. As the lead police investigator for the Southern Missouri town of Evergreen, she’s spent years expertly dealing with violent criminals and the devastation they leave in their wake. Those years of seeing the worst side of humanity have left her jaded. But McPherson hasn’t checked out yet. So when thirteen-year-old Charlie Turner’s body is discovered in the backwoods of a tight-knit suburban neighborhood, McPherson dives into the case, scrutinizing each witness and clue, determined to collar the person responsible for the heinous murder. Unfortunately the clues are few and far between, and as the police question each witness, McPherson finds herself up against a foe just as dangerous as any criminal: fear. Dark, ugly, and destructive, fear seeps into every house in the idyllic enclave and warps, destroys—even kills—as it bleeds out into the neighborhood. Neighbors who rarely spoke are suddenly exchanging insults; the local womanizer is flushed out into the open; a marriage preserved by years of patience unravels; a past kept carefully secret is tragically exposed. As the casualties stack up, McPherson and her team know they must work quickly to find the boy’s killer, or let fear reign.