BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS. AUTHOR - BOOK HERO AND INVESTIGATION PARTICIPANT. FROM CO-AUTHOR STEPHEN KING. NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER, CALLED "ABSOLUTELY FRESH AND AMAZING" BY KING. 1988. The quiet town of Edgewood is shaken by the brutal murder of fifteen-year-old Natasha Gallagher. In the morning, the mother came to wake her up and saw: her daughter’s bed was empty, the window was open, there was blood on the windowsill. Later, Natasha is found in the forest, strangled, with her left ear cut off. And in front of the victim’s house there are “hopscotch” drawn in blue chalk with a mysterious number 3 in each cell... But there are no small children in the area, so the killer probably did it. And he continues to kill, mocking the police and the FBI, showing that he knows their every move. A rumor is spreading throughout the city that the evil killing local girls is not human at all... Boogeyman. Rich Chizmar, a journalism graduate who has just returned home, is trying not to panic and do at least something to catch the Boogeyman. And now he already feels the secret glances of the elusive maniac and an inexplicable connection with him. Rich does not yet know that the echo of these ominous events will haunt him for many, many years... An extraordinary thriller about a serial killer, imbued with the horror of provincial towns in the spirit of King, with true crime documentaries, rich illustrative material and the author’s own investigation. “A truly chilling book. , absolutely fresh and amazing. A fascinating and frightening read. Bradbury's influence is felt throughout, although Bradbury would not have written such an ending. The novel managed to do what true crime stories often fail to do - combine the intensity of horror and beauty. the final". – Stephen King “A dizzying work of outlandish imagination and psychological insight. One of those rare books that create an inexpressible feeling of visiting another world. This story seems to be beating with a living human heart. I'm shocked! – Caroline Kepnes “Great. A complicated case crowned with an elegant solution. The skill with which fact and fiction are intertwined is stunning. It’s a hymn to both childhood innocence and growing up.” – Catriona Ward “Fascinating. Frightening. An uncompromising story about a monster that appears in the middle of everyday life, and the heroes, the most ordinary people, obsessed with the idea of stopping it.” – Riley Sager “Chizmar, without further ado, shatters the idea that all genres have already been invented. It's an incredibly disturbing mixture of literary styles, visual material, biography and tale. Fresh, exciting, gorgeous. Yeah, it seemed to us that any book could easily be assigned a genre...” - Josh Malerman “Here Chizmar demonstrated the full power of his incredible talent as a storyteller. A fascinating fantasy coupled with a deeply humane attitude to the material. Subtle, multi-layered storytelling, great intellectual play." – Michael Corita “Absolutely delightful, completely irresistible and immensely heartbreaking. I bet you can read it in one sitting. I’m taking it to my favorites!” – C.J. Tudor “Just black magic, not romance.” A masterpiece of true crime with the author as a key player in a creepy detective story. I highly recommend it, but not for the faint of heart.” – Jonathan Mayberry