Can the Icks friendship survive the unique new boy from Arkansas? How does Kate Hobbs tell her son she's responsible for his father's murder? Will the watching evil destroy the Icks and Kate?

In May of 1970, the world of ten-soon-to-be-eleven-year-old Jack Hobbs and his fellow Icks is about to be changed forever by the arrival of pure quill Will Corben, a boy unlike any they've ever met. Wills steadfast, genuine faith in God makes an indelible impression upon all who meet him. From adventures at the Rat Pond, Hoboland, and the railroad tracks, to cruising the alley and baseball games at Harpers field, Wills presence changes things; some of the Icks don't like the change. And nearby, evil hides. He watches. He waits. By the end of summer, that evil will have terrorized the Icks.

While the Icks are engulfed in a thrilling summer, the guilt of Kates haunting past taunts her, and now someone stalks her. Imminent peril looms because of what Kates mother calls Kates deplorable indiscretion. Kate doesn't want to tell Jack she is responsible for his father's murder, so she hides the truth and prepares for what's coming alone. But no matter the cost to her, Kate will protect Jack from a relentless danger.