A remote and affluent Maine community, Corpus Christi was untouched by the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the neighboring blue-collar town of Bedford. But all that will change in a heartbeat . . . The nightmare is awakened when third-grade schoolteacher Lois Larkin takes the children on a field trip to Bedford. There in the abandoned woods, a small, cruel boy unearths an ancient horror—a contagious plague that transforms its victims into something violent, hungry . . . and inhuman. The long, dark night is just beginning. And all hope must die as the contagion feeds—for the malevolence will not rest until it has devoured every living soul in Corpus Christi . . . and beyond.
"…a genuine creepfest that recalls, in the best way possible, the early work of Stephen King… Langan has the control of a pro, parsing just enough horrific details to allow the truly gruesome scenes to play out unbound in the imagination; this solid sophomore effort proves that the uncanny ability of The Keeper to burrow into readers’ heads and stay there was no fluke." -- Starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly
"Langan has a sharp eye for the small, vivid details of American life, and her characters are utterly believable." -- Lisa Tuttle, The Times of London
"Reads like any of the superior works of King, McCammon, or Barker." --Craig Davis, Hellnotes
"An outstanding page-turner that sidesteps the more dogged cliches while celebrating others with grandeur gore." -- Starburst
Sarah Langan is the author of The Keeper (September, 2006), a New York Time's Editors' Choice and BramStoker first novel nominee. Its sequel The Missing (October, 2007) has garnered praised from Publisher's Weekly (starred review), The Times of London, Starburst, Shivers, etc. Langan's stories are forthcoming from The Best Horror, 2007, “Cemetery Dance,” Shivers, and Darkness on the Edge: Stories inspired by Springsteen Songs. She has an MFA infiction from Columbia University, and is now pursuing her MS in Environmental Toxicology. She lives in Brooklyn, where she is at work on her third novel, Audrey's Door.
