Drummer Boy — Scott Nicholson

On a Blue Ridge Mountain peak, three boys hear the rattling of a snare drum deep inside a cave known as "The Jangling Hole," and the wind carries a whispered name. An old man at the foot of the mountain believes something inside the Hole has been disturbed by a developer's bulldozers. A local reporter is determined to solve the supernatural mysteries that have been shared for generations. Sheriff Frank Littlefield, haunted by past failures, must stand against a public enemy that has no fear of bullets, bars, or justice. On the eve of a Civil War re-enactment, the town of Titusville prepares for a staged battle, but the weekend warriors aren't aware they will soon be fighting an elusive army. A troop of Civil War deserters, trapped in the Hole by a long-ago avalanche, is rising from a dark slumber, and the war is far from over. And one misfit kid is all that stands between a town and the cold mouth of hell... From the author of The Red Church and The Skull Ring comes a poignant coming-of-age tale of supernatural mystery and suspense. ------- "Always surprising and always entertaining."--Jonathan Maberry, The Dragon Factory "A wonderful storyteller."--Sharyn McCrumb, The Ballad novels "Scott Nicholson knows the territory. Follow him at your own risk."--Stewart O'Nan, Boston Noir