When Shadows Burn

By: Todd Brown

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

BookLife Reviews/Publishers Weekly calls When Shadows Burn a "haunting debut" and "classic Southern Gothic with modern twists," with A-to-A production grades across cover, design, editing, and copy.

Some houses whisper. This one screams.

In the heart of Raven's Cross, Virginia, the decaying Scott house looms. Its broken-window eyes watch a town desperate to forget. When Roxy, a teenage girl, vanishes into a sweltering night, long-buried fears erupt, and suspicion turns savage. The townspeople turn on the newcomers, blaming them for what they refuse to face in themselves. As polite smiles crack and old grudges resurface, Raven's Cross's genteel mask begins to slip, revealing the rot beneath.

Timothy Michaels came to town chasing a story. A true crime podcaster investigating the haunted legacy of the Scott house, he never expected to be pulled into something so immediate-and so dangerous. Alongside unexpected allies, Tim begins to unearth a legacy of complicity and cruelty-one the town would kill to keep buried. Because, in Raven's Cross, the shadows don't just linger. They burn.

©2025 Todd D. Brown (P)2025 Todd D. Brown

Critic reviews

"Twin Peaks meets Shirley Jackson." -Jennifer Wright, bestselling author and former political editor-at-large for Harper's Bazaar