Sally Hopkins was a social worker for the State of Texas. Worn out, burned out, she calls up her uncle Ed, sheriff of the small East Texas town of Maryvale, to find out if she can come and stay with him for a while. Much to her surprise, Ed not only wants her to visit, he has work for her. The town has been plagued over the summer by a series of arsons and animal mutilations. Chilled, Sally agrees to take the job. These are two of the signs of a budding serial killer, and it's crucial that the perpetrator be identified and stopped before he moves on to even more serious crimes.But within a week of Sally's arrival in town, a woman is killed, the town's first murder in decades. The investigation turns from looking for a troubled boy who likes to torture cats into a desperate search for a killer who is sure to strike again.Strieber takes us below the surface of small town life, to the dark undercurrents of suffering and depravity. With an appealing and engaging heroine, she builds the suspense page by page, creating a novel that is at times warmly funny, and utterly terrifying. Little Town Lies is a classic psychological mystery from a bright new talent.