Ryan Runyan

Fire High Ryan Runyan

West Virginia, 1972

Mt. Harmony is a great place to raise kids, until the monsters arrive. Two college students hitchhike. They are found dead, headless. A machete is the likely weapon. A deranged 'Nam vet protects their two skulls. Rattler knows he didn't kill them, but who did? Certainly not the man who confesses, a drag queen with spindly arms.

The city's lone black detective, Detective Morrissey is on the case. He fights on two fronts, both against monsters of evil and those who refuse to see him as a man. A young teen, Nick Avery is enjoying life, baseball, girls, and friends, until he meets his monster, Phelps. What the addict does to him, the boy swears only God will know.

Nick and Morrissey form a bond. Nick reveals some, not all of his story to Miles. The rest he saves for his clairvoyant friend, Mathias. His revelation has horrific consequences.

Who will prevail in Mt. Harmony? The monsters or the warriors who sacrifice their lives to defeat them.