Publisher's Synopsis
Church officials claim demons possess Sam Charleroi, but Father Robert Malveaux isn't convinced. The disillusioned church lawyer knows his superiors are capable of manipulating a child for their own ends, especially one who's the center of the latest ecclesiastic sex-abuse scandal. To Malveaux's mind, Sam's "possession" is nothing more than psychological trauma, coupled with the stress of his parents' divorce and preexisting mental illness. Elderly, spiritually sensitive Mae Etta doesn't share Malveaux's certainty. She remembers her childhood friend Harold's death, his bloodless skin left carefully folded. Now Sam seems connected to Harold's spirit, and a skinned corpse lies in the local jail, the remains of a guest arrested at the Charleroi estate-a fact that doesn't escape Sheriff Roger Luby. As Luby continues his investigation and the Charleroi family threatens to implode, Malveaux struggles to differentiate between church politics and actual possession. The stakes are high. The rigors of an exorcism can kill. And if demons truly torment the child, they want Malveaux's soul. The answer to the priest's dilemma may lie in The Caine File, an ecclesiastic text documenting demonic activity through the ages. But can the priest believe what the file contains?
