A stunning new novel from the author of the prize-winning literary thriller, CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER.

When a farmer discovers his prize bull torn apart by a savage animal, he contacts Will Miller, an agricultural investigator the locals are calling "Cow Man." On arriving at the scene in the dark woods of rural Alabama, Miller is mystified. It appears to be the work of a panther or larger - but no such animal has been seen in these parts in a hundred years. Returning the next day to take pictures, he discovers that someone has set fire to the corpse. There's the tracks of a huge cat and those of a human.

Miller's dog, and the dogs of all the neighbors, seem to have run off. Something is frightening the animals. He is called to check on another local and discovers her body nearly destroyed by her starving cats, and one large white cat that escapes into the woods. This white cat will appear again, a harbinger of death.

The dead woman's cousin Walt inherits her house - and the inexplicable hauntings. Walt and Miller re-examine their much earlier history together as they pursue the source of the evil emanating from the depths of the woods.

Tom Franklin has created a haunting novel of suspense reminiscent of his prize novella, "Poachers."