In an instant they were gone...

Four years apart, two boys vanished without a trace in a picturesque community in Maine. For Sheriff Virgil Milche, the disappearances are a black mark on a fine career. For the mother of one of the victims, the mystery is a dark journey through grief, hope, and madness.

Audrey Bock is certain her son is still alive. She believes that in the silence of his absence she can hear him crying out to her. And now she suspects that somewhere in her own past lies the key to her son's disappearance. To find her son, Audrey must confront the maze of her memory. To unravel an agonizing case, Virgil must uncover the bizarre darkness lurking within his well-lit world. But as both move closer to the truth, they will face the most forbidding barrier of all: Someone out there knows exactly what happened to two little boys--and who must die next.