The editor of the Blackstone Chronicle, Oliver Metcalf, nervously presides over the ceremony to begin demolition of the old Asylum. But the building's fate hangs in the balance as financing problems halt the project. Contractor Bill McGuire, all set to proceed, can't hide his dismay: with a family and another baby on the way, he can't afford delays. Then a package arrives at the McGuires'—a beautiful antique doll with long blonde hair. His daughter, Megan, wraps her arms around it; his wife, Elizabeth, remains suspicious. Who sent the doll? Who is it for? What neither Elizabeth nor Bill can know is that this innocent-looking gift brings with it a murderous menace...

Jules Hartwick should be on top of the world. He has a distinguished career as president of the First National Bank of Blackstone, and his lovely daughter will soon be married. But his contentment is shattered: he's under investigation by the Federal Reserve—and that frightening audit threatens the financing of the Blackstone Center, which is slated to rise on the site of the old Asylum. And now, late at night, after a lavish dinner party, the Hartwicks receive a mysterious package containing a silver locket. Who sent it? Why? Jules has his own suspicions, as this second sinister gift unleashes a bloodcurdling chain of events...

When library assistant Rebecca Morrison comes across a beautifully ornate cigarette lighter in the shape of a fire breathing dragon, she gives it to her cousin, unwittingly igniting an evil that can only originate from the terrifying Blackstone Asylum. This is third installment in "The Blackstone Chronicles", Saul's serial novel about the horrors that plague a small New England town.

While researching an historical piece on the Asylum for the town’s newspaper, editor Oliver Metcalf digs through the attic that once belonged to his father, the last superintendent of the facility. There, among the dusty medical records, Oliver discovers a beautifully embroidered linen handkerchief with an ornate “R” in one corner. He decides it will make a lovely present for Rebecca Morrison, who recently suffered a horrifying family tragedy. But is this token of affection the innocent object it seems? What tears were once dried with Rebecca’s handkerchief—and how many more will begin to flow?

John Saul, author of nineteen bestselling novels of chilling suspense, now gives us a serial thriller set in the small New England town of Blackstone, where the inhabitants are caught in the grip of unrelenting evil. Strange gifts are appearing in the most unlikely places: on doorsteps, in cars, glittering on a flea market table. Each object bears an unspeakable history. Each brings an ominous power to harm. Each reveals another thread in the tightly woven web of . . . THE BLACKSTONE CHRONICLES, PART 5 When attorney Ed Becker spots the carved antique dresser in a dusty attic, he takes it to restore. Then his young daughter, Amy, makes a curious discovery: Inside one of the drawers she finds a set of old pictures and a stereoscope, an old-fashioned device that allows you to see images in three dimensions. Oddly, one of the photos resembles their house, where Eds grandmother lived long ago. But the scenes inside the stereoscope also bring to vivid life some terrifying memories, eerie images that seem all too real...

Editor Oliver Metcalf has written a provocative article on the Asylum that implies there may be a curse on the town. The community is outraged, charging him with inflaming hysteria. More urgent is the mysterious disappearance of Rebecca Morrison. As Blackstone rallies to find the missing woman, a mysterious package arrives on Harvey Connally’s front porch. The contents hold the ultimate, grisly key to the horrors of the Asylum. Now, at last, Oliver must confront the gruesome truth of the past—one that threatens to crush all the inhabitants of Blackstone in one final grip of terror…

Vintage book