1964.
Waterbury, Ohio.
Thirteen-year-old Deuce Delaney sits in his Observatory—the turret on top of his house perched high on Mount Airy—spying through binoculars on the world below.
Deuce is trouble in perpetual motion. He gets in trouble at home, church, school—even with the law.
So when he sneaks out one night and sees this thing with a hideous face disappear up a sewer pipe, no one will believe him. He must investigate the mystery alone.
That's when things get hairy...
From Chapter 4 of the novel:
I then take one last look at the sewer pipe—
I freeze.
See something coming toward me inside it.
Quick hide behind the tree.
Peek out...
It stops at the opening. Peers out.
I see its hideous face in the moonlight!
It climbs out of the pipe, down the rocks, and stands next to the pool of water.
Then turns toward me!
I duck behind the tree.
Slooowly peek out...
It crosses the creek and starts climbing up the path.
All of a sudden there's this flash of lightning off in the distance. Then this faint rumble of thunder.
It stops—looks in the direction of the thunder. Then turns around, goes back across the creek, climbs back inside the sewer pipe, and disappears into the darkness.
