Beneath the Ashes

In Halcyon County, philanthropist August Magnus’s sprawling estate burns to the ground, leaving three dead and a multi-million-dollar insurance claim. Forensic pathologist Dr. Eliza Gray dissects the charred remains and finds that the victims were not killed by the inferno—they were hunted, shot, and tortured before the fire ever started. A desperate teenager, Leo, emerges from the woods as the sole survivor, claiming he was prey in Magnus’s secret human hunting ground. As Gray’s scalpel exposes the cold, unadorned language of death, the perfect mask of charity begins to crack, revealing a monster who collected orphans for sport.