Young adult fiction has rarely been so creepy as in author Reade Scott WhinnemΣs debut. A contemporary ghost story, The Pricker Boy teasingly walks the line between psychological suspense and supernatural thrillerηand keeps readers guessing right until the end.

This is the literary equivalent of a horror movie. ItΣs Lord of the Flies meets The Blair Witch Project...only scarier.

ThereΣs something lurking in the woods just beyond the WidowΣs Stone. Stucks Cumberland has seen itηa boy with skin thatΣs as gray as dead bark, covered head to toe in thorns.

It seems impossible. But then, nothing about this summer is as it should be. StucksΣs best friend, Pete, has grown sullen and abusive. Ronnie wears long sleeves despite the heat, self-conscious about the scar that reminds everyone of a day theyΣd like to forget. VivekΣs jokes seem increasingly desperate, and Emily is stirring feelings in Stucks that he doesnΣt know what to do with.

And through it all the Pricker Boy is out there, watching them from the edge of the woods. At least, Stucks thinks thatΣs whatΣs happening. But itΣs hard to concentrate with all the buzzingηthe relentless buzzing that started in the trees and is now crawling around the surface of his brain....

Chilling and lyrical, The Pricker Boy is a ghost story with substanceηa thriller that takes readers on a journey deep into the dark woods and deeper still into the dark corners of the human soul.