This program is read by David Aaron Baker, who brings the nightmare to life with his sinister narration. He has earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Male Narrator.
The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.
"A sublimely chilling story." —Library Journal, STARRED review
St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys.
Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.
Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future...a family.
Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides.
Others turn up dead.
Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives — and perhaps their eternal souls — are at risk.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 11, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250902825
- File size: 314754 KB
- Duration: 10:55:44
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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August 16, 2021
Fracassi (Beneath a Pale Sky) spins a gothic, gory Lord of the Flies tale that captures both the hope of youth and the rapture of religion. It’s 1905 and 16-year-old Peter Barlow is the de-facto older brother to his fellow residents at St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Boys following the murder-suicide of his parents years prior. Haunted by his past but eager for a better future, Peter’s torn between following the path of his mentor, Father Andrew Francis, into priesthood, or following his heart in the form of local farm girl Grace Hill. But when an injured, raving man is brought to the priests of St. Vincent’s, his poison seeps into the hearts of many of the boys, and Peter and the remaining orphans must fight for their survival before they too succumb to the allure of his demonic rot. The horror here is as much a warning on the dangers of human corruption as a testament to hope in the face of nigh-insurmountable darkness. Occasionally the tone careens from creeping, literary gothic tale to bloody slasher film, but these odd shifts don’t diminish the overall quality of the haunting, visceral story. Horror readers will be hooked. Agent: Elizabeth Copps, Copps Literary.
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