The loss of his parents years ago, and now the violent and untimely death of his brother, have left Tucker Donner in a grim 'middle world' where his daily toil as a crossmaker, and his evening prayers, whispered to a candle's open flame, are all that shield him from the terrible violence of the Masked Men, a team of savage murderers whose chief desire seems to be making Tucker their witness.

But when a man-who might be Tucker's own brother, Seth-is viciously pinned to the scarecrow's cross, Tucker must face a new terror, not just one of violence but of his own inner demons, his own transgressions. And the clock is ticking.

Strangers are arriving unexpectedly. The townspeople are growing not only impatient but violent-Why have people been disappearing? Who is behind all this?

Tucker is singled out, suspected of murder as he now becomes the chief target of a revenge-hungry mob. Will he possess the wisdom to deflect their accusations and the grit to endure their punishments? Will he maintain enough gentle control over his own nature to resist the Masked Men and their violent enticements . . . or will he succumb, partaking of their seductions, and in the process condemn not only himself but the very souls of his family?

In Christopher Knight's The Scarecrow King, the exploration of a man's struggle between power and surrender takes on a vivid and enduring deeper meaning.

Because nothing ever dies around here.