An ingenious novel of suspense about sisterhood, innocence, murderous games, and how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love.

In a tight-knit town in the 1980s, a child-killer is on the loose. And Topaz’s parents are on edge. At ten years old, Topaz is so vulnerable. But she has nothing to worry about. Her eldest sister, Ruby, has made sure of that. Swearing Topaz to secrecy, Ruby reveals she has trapped the monster in their root cellar.

Bound and bloodied in the cold space is kindly Brother Johnson from the church. Pleading with Topaz to cut him loose, he says her reckless sister is a liar. Brother Johnson is right about that: Ruby does lie. She also likes to scare people. Still, even Ruby wouldn’t lie about this. Would she? The game—and the secret—is in her hands. But Topaz just wants to do the right thing.

Let Brother Johnson die in the cold space? Or try to set him free—and then see what happens next?

© 2025 by Laura Lee Bahr. ℗ 2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.