The Sign of the Beast

The National Book Award–winning and New York Times bestselling master of psychological suspense returns with a short story of a young boy's sexual awareness disturbed by cruelty, obsession, and rage.

Eleven-year-old Howard was born with a birthmark on his cheek. His Sunday school teacher mockingly calls it the "sign of the beast." Too hateful to be named, for Howard she is only Mrs. S——. And she's as careless in causing him misery as she is willful in arousing his shame. All Howard can do is look away—until he realizes he can turn the aggression on its head.

When the hunted becomes the hunter, what will happen next?