Black Book of Secrets — F.E. Higgins

A boy arrives at a remote village in the dead of night. His name is Ludlow Fitch, and he is running from a most terrible past. In this village is the life he has dreamed of: a safe place to live and a job, as the assistant to a mysterious pawnbroker who buys people's deepest, darkest secrets. Ludlow transcribes the confessions in an ancient leather-bound tome: the Black Book of Secrets. He yearns to trust his mentor, who refuses to disclose any information on his past experiences or future intentions. But what the pawnbroker does not know is, in a town brimming with secrets, the most troubling may be held by his new apprentice.