From New York Times bestselling horror novelist Robert McCammon comes a dark and chilling tale about a witch-hunt in the seventeenth century Carolina colonies. The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies--and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal... After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel--and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.