His smile faded as he remembered Donny's final words.

I hope you can go home for good.

"I hope so, too," Levi whispered. "But I don't know that I'm ready yet."

Dee whinnied and tossed her head.

"Come on, girl." He flicked the reins again. "We've still got a long way to travel before we even consider going home."

Author's Note.

If this is your first introduction to the ex-Amish magus Levi Stoltzfus, you might also want to read my novel Ghost Walk (as well as its prequel, Dark Hollow), which marks Levi's first appearance. Both books should be available in paperback at your local library or bookstore. If your local bookseller doesn't have them in stock, ask them to order the books for you, or order them instead from any online retailer.

Judging by what you tell me on my Web site and Twitter and Facebook, Levi seems to be a fan favorite. He's a favorite of mine, as well. I enjoy writing him. You might like to know that he will return for at least two more books. One of those stories takes place in the weeks following this novel and tells what happens to him once he finally reaches his original destination. The other novel will focus on his eventual return to the Amish community that cast him out all those years ago, and will fill in most of his backstory. I'll let you see them both when they're finished.

I'd also like to take a moment here to give a shout-out to Don D'Auria, my editor at Leisure Books. This is my eleventh novel with Leisure, and Don has been my guide and sounding board for every one of them. Believe me when I say that none of this would be possible without him. As I write this, Don and I are hard at work on books twelve through fifteen. It's a good relationship, and I'm looking forward to working with him on many more.

As always, thanks for buying this and for all of your continued support. I like hearing from you and finding out which of my books you liked (and which ones you didn't like). You keep reading them and I'll keep writing them.

Brian Keene.

Somewhere in central Pennsylvania.

November 2009.

Acknowledgments.

This time around, thanks go to my family; Don D'Auria and everyone else at Leisure Books; my prereaders-Mark Sylva and Tod Clark; my assistants-Joe "Tomokato" Branson, "Big" Joe Maynard, and Dave "Meteornotes" Thomas; Tim and Brindi Anderson, who fed me during the last half of this book; Alethea Kontis, who let me use her bucket of snakes; Bob Freeman, who provided a luminol light when I really needed it; and the ubiquitous girl on the glider, whose name I now know. Thanks also go (for various and sundry reasons) to: C. Robert Cargill; Andrew Ramsey; Richard Gott and the entire staff of Antarctic Press; Keith Giffen; Mike Siglain; Ryan Penagos; Rich Ginter; Ed Gorman; Joe R. Lansdale; F. Paul Wilson; Thomas F. Monteleone; Chet Williamson; Jack Ketchum; Edward Lee; David J. Schow; Bryan Smith; J. F. Gonzalez and family; Wrath James White; Gene O'Neill; Stephen Poerink; Miss Muffintop and the boys in the warehouse; Richard Christy; Andy Deane and Bella Morte; Bill and Andrew at Moderncine; Paul and Elizabeth at Nimble Pictures; the MISFITS and the staff and volunteers of CONvergence; Mike Argento; Jim Lewin of The York Emporium; and as always, my loyal readers and booksellers, and the crazy bastards on the Brian Keene forum.

Praise.

HIGH PRAISE FOR THE CHILLING PROSE OF BRIAN KEENE!.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.

"Darkness on the Edge of Town is a solid, tight, well written creep fest that further solidifies Keene's ranking as one of the major forces in horror literature. If you're not reading Keene then you are a damn fool."

-House of Horrors.

URBAN GOTHIC.

"None of his work is more frightening than his latest novel, Urban Gothic...This is Keene at his best, and it seems he has only just started."

-The Horror Review.

"...His work is raw, gritty, and often brilliant, and his latest novel, Urban Gothic, is no exception. Urban Gothic is a tour de force in shock horror. Read it if you dare."

-Dark Scribe Magazine.

CASTAWAYS.

"Relentlessly frightening and viscerally brutal, Castaways combines nonstop action with an old school horror abandon that gives readers scarce time to come up for air."

-Dark Scribe Magazine.

"You've got all the things here a horror fan craves: the violence, the mayhem, and the blood and guts. Much like Laymon, Keene provides all kinds of thrills here...But Keene has his own voice, too, one just as good as the late great master, Richard Laymon."

-SF Revu.

GHOST WALK.

"Keene returns to creepy LeHorn's Hollow with enthusiasm and with a formidable chunk of evil in Nodens...Keene demonstrates an authoritative grasp on primal fears and on a rural America cut off from the mainstream."

-Publishers Weekly DARK HOLLOW.

"Keene keeps getting better and better. Given how damn good he was to start with...soon, he will become a juggernaut."

-The Horror Fiction Review.

DEAD SEA.

"Delivering enough shudders and gore to satisfy any fan of the genre, Keene proves he's still a lead player in the zombie horror cavalcade."

-Publishers Weekly.

GHOUL.

"If Brian Keene's books were music, they would occupy a working class, hard-earned space between Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, and Johnny Cash."

-John Skipp, New York Times bestselling author.

THE CONQUEROR WORMS.

"Keene delivers [a] wild, gruesome page-turner...the enormity of Keene's pulp horror imagination, and his success in bringing the reader over the top with him, is both rare and wonderful."

-Publishers Weekly.

CITY OF THE DEAD.

"Brian Keene's name should be up there with King, Koontz and Barker. He's without a doubt one of the best horror writers ever."

-The Horror Review.

THE RISING.

"...The Rising, is a postapocalyptic narrative that revels in its blunt and visceral descriptions of the undead."

-The New York Times Book Review.

"Hoping for a good night's sleep? Stay away from The Rising. It'll keep you awake, then fill your dreams with lurching, hungry corpses wanting to eat you."

-Richard Laymon, author of Flesh.

Other Leisure books by Brian Keene:.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.

URBAN GOTHIC.

CASTAWAYS.

GHOST WALK.

DARK HOLLOW.

DEAD SEA.

GHOUL.

THE CONQUEROR WORMS.

CITY OF THE DEAD.

THE RISING.

end.