As a girl growing up in small Cider Town, RaeAnne and her sidekick King came across the body of a boy their age within a crate of apples in the town’s orchard, which is operated by the eccentric and powerful Gray family. The novel opens with RaeAnne now grown, the mother of a troubled eight-year-old daughter, and trapped in a broken marriage to a rich, slightly older man. When RaeAnne’s mother is killed, she takes the bus home to Cider Town with her daughter, and doesn’t tell her estranged husband. But she finds her return to Cider Town unwelcoming, and frightening incidents start to happen involving her and her family. RaeAnne tries to repair her tenuous relationship with her father, a tough, traditional man. She must convince him to help her piece together the whereabouts of her unstable older brother, who left home and cut off all communication with his family the night RaeAnne and King found terror in the orchard. As she unravels the mysteries of their childhood RaeAnne reconciles with King, who stayed in Cider Town. King has grown up to be handsome but emotionally damaged, with a secretive quality. RaeAnne was once his sole support, but they drifted apart as they grew. King comes from a broken family fractured by scandal, and RaeAnne’s father is an influential figure in Cider Town, so their restored friendship is frowned on by almost everyone in the town. RaeAnne must find a way to bring her past into focus with her present and rediscover those she loves. $0.99 on Kindle.
