The Cain Connection

No one knew where he was...how would they ever find him?

While witnessing a heinous crime at a recreational park, twelve-year-old Joshua Benton is spotted by the perpetrator, and is later pursued and abducted by the man, who takes him to a secluded house in the low hills outside of town. There, he is held prisoner by the man-reclusive novelist Joseph Cain-who plans to eventually kill him, as suggested by his latest manuscript.

Joshua's captor is not only a popular best-selling author; he also composes real-life stories of a different, darker variety, about which the public is unaware. But Joshua knows. Through bitter personal experience he has discovered where the material for these cryptic books comes from.

Searching for him is County Sheriff Eric Turner, who investigates the crime at the park, and is able to ascertain that the youth's disappearance is linked to the murder. With little evidence to go on, he struggles to solve the murder while dealing with his failure to solve a similar crime committed two years earlier. Eric knows if he can find the murderer, he will find the boy. Will he fail again, or can he find the killer in time to rescue Joshua? And if he does, will he find him alive?

Little does the sheriff-or anyone-know that survival is solely up to Joshua Benton; that his rescue depends on his inventiveness and ingenuity. Not only must the youngster cope with his impending mortality at the hands of the demented writer, he must do so while enduring psychological and physical tortures that test his courage, his endurance, and his ability to believe in hope.