In her new Midwest home, Juanita "Nita" Luisa Mendez discovers a haunted stuffed gorilla in the attic, which triggers a series of terrifying events. Struggling to adjust to a new school while being targeted by bullies, Nita's situation worsens as shadowy figures begin to pursue her. The combination of supernatural threats and everyday challenges creates a gripping tale of resilience and fear as Nita fights to reclaim her sense of safety and belonging.
As the clock's pendulum steadily counts down towards the midnight hour, the growing scent of brimstone hangs heavy in the air. The universal symbol of all that is evil, the pentagram, or the inverted pentacle, has been carved in the hardwood floor. Its shape is often described as the goat of lust attacking the Heavens with its horns during the witches' sabbat. Five obsidian candles flicker as the incantations begin. Who will be summoned during this unholy evening? Will it be Baphomet? Or Belial? Maybe even Lucifer himself? The roof timbers groan. Stressed plaster drops to the floor. The demon approaches, holding its ancient grimoire filled with evil stories, written in blood...and here they are.
Midnight. Some call it the witching hour. Others call it the devil's hour. Here in the graveyard, midnight is a very special time. It is a time when ghostly spirits are at their strongest, when the veil between our world and theirs is at its thinnest. Legend has it, that while most of the world is asleep, the lack of prayers allow the spirits to communicate under the cover of darkness, among the headstones, their whispers rustling in the leaves of the old oak trees. But if you're here in the graveyard, you can tell yourself it's just the wind, that the moonlight is playing tricks on your eyes, that it's only the swirling mist you see. But when you hear the graveyard gate clang shut, the dead have something to say. Here are their stories...
In the early 1990s three young people attracted to the ambitious global peacekeeping work of the UN cross paths in Cambodia. Andrew strives for a better world through his life-saving work as a doctor. Heidi, a social worker, is in need of a challenge and a paycheck, and Ken is fresh from Harvard and brimful of idealism. As their stories interweave through the years, from Rwanda, Bosnia and Somalia to Haiti, the trio reveal a world of witnessed atrocities, primal fear, desperate loneliness and base desires. They fend off terror and futility with revelry, humour and sex; ask hard questions about the world order America has created, the true power of the UN, and whether there is any possibility for change. This is a startling celebration of the power of humour and friendship, of the limits of human compassion, and the need for a warm body and a cold beer during a Condition Echo lockdown. A book that shows the human cost of global politics and the tragic truth that wars are much more avoidable than our governments would ever admit. A brilliant, provocatively funny and fast moving book.