Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson -- a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible vision of death that will haunt him forever. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that are manifested in Zephyr. From an ancient, mystical woman who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown -- for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the
罗伯特•麦卡蒙，1952年生于美国亚拉巴马州。少年时代，他迷上爱伦•坡的作品，因此，他的作品有浓浓的超自然元素和哥特式小说的灵异色彩，弥漫著美国南方风情和淡淡的思乡情绪。
从1978年起，他从惊悚类型小说展开写作生涯。到1985年，他开始成为《纽约时报》排行榜的畅销明星。然而，他作品不多，一种题材都只写了一本，而且每一部作品都超越了类型小说的局限，展现出非凡的人物刻画功力，比影像更逼真的描写能力，对悬疑气氛的掌控炉火纯青。而且，即使后来跻身畅销作家的行列，他依然坚持自己对写作的信念。
他说：“我从来不是为钱而写作，也永远不会。我办不到。我深信，写作是为了要写出自己想看，而且会看得入迷的书。我无法忍受重复。我只想写自己从来没有写过的东西。写作是为了创造出一个世界，创造人物，然后亲手赋予他们生命。就像画一幅人像，眼看着画里的人活起来了，那种快乐没有任何东...