A History of Wild Places. Shea Ernshaw

Travis Wren has an unusual gift for finding missing persons. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James, a famous author of dark, terrifying children's books, his quest leads him to a place many thought was nothing more than a legend.

This secluded community, called the Pastoral, was founded in the 1970s by a group of like-minded people who yearned for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the community should no longer exist, but Travis stumbles upon it by chance and soon... disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.

A few years later, Theo, an old-timer at the Pastoral, finds Travis' abandoned pickup truck outside the community. No one is allowed to enter or leave the community, especially when there is a threat of bringing the disease - the rot - into the Pastoral. As Theo uncovers the truth, he and his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bea, reveal the secrets they keep from each other. These secrets prove that their ideal, isolated world is not as safe as they thought, and that darkness can hide in many different guises.

Eerily beautiful, hypnotic, and haunting, A Tale of Wild Places is a tale of fairy-tale worlds, our fear of the dark, and how easy it is to lose ourselves in the depths of our own minds.