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Informationen zum Autor Katherine Arden Klappentext New York Times bestselling author Katherine Arden thrills once again in the finale to the critically acclaimed, bone-chilling quartet that began with Small Spaces . Now in paperback. It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But then a terrified and rambling boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears with a message for the trio from the mysterious man who took him: Play if you dare . Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg. Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, and trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps. Leseprobe Chapter One Summer in East Evansburg, and a sun like a hot white eye glared down at the cracked and shriveling earth. It hadn't rained in weeks. Months. The April showers had come on time, but May was dry as dust, and June brought in a thick, sticky heat that refused to go away. The sun parched the new leaves as they opened, and made them curl up like caterpillars on their twigs. July came, but the rain didn't. Families' wells went dry, so they had to truck in water, and the sticky air lay like a hot puddle in houses and never seemed to go, no matter how often they opened and shut the windows. The only people who enjoyed the heat were kids and the makers of creemees. And even for kids, riding bikes around town started to lose its appeal, with the sun glaring down. Swimming holes were mobbed every weekend. The East Evansburg swimming hole was on Lethe Creek. A cold green place in the stream where the water slipped under a covered bridge. Little kids liked to play on the rocks there. On really hot days, parents set up their chairs right in the water, dipping their feet and calling to their neighbors. On a Saturday in late August, the heat lay on people's necks like a hand. Parents in chairs kept soaking their T-shirts and wearing them wet against the white-eyeball sun. Kids chased dogs into and out of the water. People shouted and people laughed. Six parents sat with their chairs arranged in a tight circle, right in the water, so their bare feet stayed wet. Three of them were moms, and three were dads. They weren't laughing. "Coco won't talk to me," one said. Her blond hair was plaited down her back, and she wore a plaid shirt over her swimsuit, to protect her skin from the sun. Coco was her daughter. "But something's wrong. I just know it." The man next to her had dark, sad eyes. He took her hand but didn't say anything. He'd had a daughter named Olivia, but she was dead. She'd died in a boating accident on Lake Champlain. Just that May. A few months ago. Sometimes he dreamed that she wasn't dead. Sometimes he dreamed that she was looking for him. But he knew those were just dreams. She was dead. He loved Coco, though. Loved her almost as much as the daughter he'd lost. "Brian won't talk to us either," Brian's mom said. Her swimsuit was orange, her expression serious. "It's just—darn it—" another dad said. He had glasses and threw his head back when he drank his ginger ale. His son's name was Philip Greenblatt. "Something's wrong, but they won't trust us with it! They...
About the author
Katherine Arden
