This lyrical tale of evil, loss, and redemption is a stunning addition to the Southern gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor and Harry Crews.<br><br><b>A Choir of Ill Children</b> is the startling story of Kingdom Come, a decaying, swamp backwater that draws the lost, ill-fated, and damned. <br><br>Since his mother's disappearance and his father's suicide, Thomas has cared for his three brothers—conjoined triplets with separate bodies but one shared brain—and the town's only industry, the Mill.<br><br>Because of his family's prominence, Thomas is feared and respected by the superstitious swamp folk. Granny witches cast hexes while Thomas's childhood sweetheart drifts through his life like a vengeful ghost and his best friend, a reverend suffering from the power of tongues, is overcome with this curse as he tries to warn of impending menace. All Thomas learns is that “the carnival is coming.”<br><br>Torn by responsibility and rage, Thomas must face his tormented past as well as the mysterious forces surging toward the town he loves and despises.