A staggering coming-of-age story. Texas farmer's son, Griz Marsh, is a teenager wrestling with a life complicated by the arrival of the outspoken, Lizzy Kendrick, a mysterious transient laborer, Robert Lemke, and a traveling magician, Joe Lester. The sudden brutal murders of local children place Griz and his best friend, Marlon in the thick of it, and the only way out is a cruel path filled with shocking revelations and desperate actions. The age of discovery is challenging and dangerous. Where Mark Twain meets Delia Owens. Griz Marsh's dull teenage years take a series of dramatic twists. Growing up in Southwest Texas in 1970 presents plenty of challenges. Griz typically spends time building forts with Marlon, his black friend (only friend). Griz keeps watch over his younger sister, Tilly; a girl with a sweet but blustery disposition. The Marsh household is a complicated affair: His Pop is a bigot, who hates everyone and everything, and needlessly blames Griz for the death of his late wife. Griz detests his ignorant father - a man full of contradictions, which includes sleeping with their half-black housekeeper - Aunt, Kookie. Griz and Marlon's adventurous outlook is tested by a new neighbor Lizzy Kendrick - a highly physically and verbally active girl. Griz's desire to become a man had not accounted for Lizzy's whirlwind nature. Life is further complicated by life-threatening storms, the murders of nearby local kids, the arrival of a mysterious transient worker, the psychologically damaged traveling magician, Joe Lester, and the increasingly unpredictable behavior of Griz's father. Griz, Marlon, Tilly, and Lizzy adventure into the haunted flatlands in search of mythical creatures, only to discover much more shocking truths that endanger their lives. For Griz, a series of uncontrollable events force him to make the ultimate choice. The outcome reveals unwanted family secrets. The answers lay in the Texas sunrise, but by then it's already too late.
