Cover

Endorsements

Praise for New York Times Bestselling Author
Ted Dekker

“Ted Dekker is a master of suspense.”

Library Journal

“An absorbing thriller that convincingly blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.”

Publishers Weekly on Red

“[Dekker’s writing] may be a genre unto itself.”

New York Times on A.D. 30

“Ted Dekker is a true master of thrillers.”

Nelson DeMille, New York Times bestselling author, on BoneMan’s Daughters

“A daring and completely riveting thriller.”

Booklist on The Priest’s Graveyard

“Beguiling, compelling, challenging, and riveting.”

Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author, on The Priest’s Graveyard

“A tour-de-force of suspense that demands to be read in one sitting.”

James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author, on BoneMan’s Daughters

“Utterly compelling and completely original.”

Douglas Preston, co-creator of the famed Pendergast series, on The Priest’s Graveyard

“[It] will haunt you—long after you want it to.”

Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Fate and The Inner Circle, on The Priest’s Graveyard

Praise for Rachelle Dekker

“Dekker’s debut is worth choosing.”

Publishers Weekly on The Choosing

“The story vacillates between the sweetness of a tender coming-of-age romance and moments that almost resemble a Dean Koontz thriller.”

Serena Chase, USA Today, on The Choosing

“A swiftly moving plot puts readers in the center of the action, and the well-described setting adds to the experience. Deeper themes of value and worth will appeal to both young adult and adult readers.”

Romantic Times on The Choosing

“Rachelle, daughter of Ted Dekker, is carving out a space of her own. Her debut novel is a rich statement about the author’s future and her impact on Christian fiction.”

Family Fiction on The Choosing

“Dekker pens another striking science fiction thriller including a well-developed dystopian society and strong depictions of good versus evil that can be easily read as a standalone.”

Publishers Weekly on The Returning

Title Page

Chapter
One

IT WAS HOT THAT DAY IN THE HILLS OF TENNESSEE. I remember because the aged boards that made up the tiny church’s floor creaked with every step. As if to say, I’m tired of all you meat sacks treading on me. Be still.

But we couldn’t be still. Not on that day.

I was only a child, six years old, but my memories of what happened on that Sunday are clear. Or maybe hearing the retelling over and over has crystalized a distorted version of them in my mind. Either way, I remember.

It was late August in Clarksville, a small town along Route 254 in the hills west of Knoxville. I was seated on the third pew next to my mother, who cradled my newborn brother, Lukas, in her arms. From the first time I laid eyes on his tiny fingers and heard his soft cooing as he stared up at me, all I dreamed about was having a baby like Lukas of my own one day.