The Despair (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798256064747)

An unknown darkness has crept into the small Oregon town of Rosemill, placing a suburban populace in the crosshairs of a series of random acts of brutal violence. On an ordinary morning in front of a school bus, a man estranged from his girlfriend attacks and kills her in broad daylight. Across town, a prospective mother harms her unborn child. Another attempts to drown the young twins that she is babysitting. No obvious link exists between these otherwise isolated incidents, except that each appears to predict the next with inexplicable precision over the course of a single, hellish week of senseless mayhem.

Dr. Jill Garson, a former criminal psychologist-turned-small-town therapist, anticipates the answer lies somewhere in her field of study, but when she pairs up with a superstitious police officer to unravel the mystery, they both soon realize there is more to the crimes than mere police procedure or behavioral psychology. But is the violence a consequence of something environmental? Chemical? Or something far more sinister?

As the two race against the clock to stay one step ahead of the escalating pattern, they come to discover a terrible secret that threatens to unravel everything they know about Rosemill's seemingly-serene existence.