Description A young boy discovers a bone in a snow-covered forest. Initially, Quigley Maguire thinks it could simply be that of an animal. But it belongs to a young girl who has been missing for three years.
Quigley’s father, Frank, an ex-detective who now works as a private investigator, has hidden from his son his responsibility for his wife’s death. When he confesses the truth to him, Quigley runs from his home into the worst snowstorm for decades.
Frank’s search for his son brings him into contact with Jeremiah Grazier and his drug-addicted wife, Judith, a damaged refugee from an orphanage who now sees herself as an avenging angel.
Meanwhile, in the derelict orphanage, a tramp discovers a sexually mutilated and decapitated corpse, later identified as that of the grotesquely abusive head warden of the institute.
Author An award-winning writer, Sam Millar has enjoyed critical and professional acclaim for his work. He is a winner of the 1998 Brian Moore Short Story Award. In 2005 Brandon published his first crime novel, The Redemption Factory, which will be published in the US by Thunder’s Mouth.
Karl Kane is a private investigator with a dark past. As a child, he witnessed the brutal rape and murder of his mother. The same man sexually molested Karl, leaving him for dead with horrific knife wounds covering his body. Years later, Karl has a chance to avenge his mother’s murder by killing the man responsible. The opportunity arises on one unforgettable Good Friday night.
For reasons he later regards as cowardice, Karl allows the opportunity to slip through his hands, only to be shattered when, two days later, two young girls are sexually molested and then brutally murdered by the killer on Easter Sunday morning. Karl now holds himself responsible for their deaths.