In the fall of 1993, the tranquil town of Harting Farms near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland is thrown into turmoil when teens start vanishing. No one is able to find any trace of them until one of the girls turns up dead near the city park. But she's the only one to be found. As fall moves into winter and then into 1994, more disappearances occur with no clues to help find the person dubbed the Piper. The police are working overtime on the investigation, with no results -- and no way to stop the abductions.

Five local boys take it upon themselves to conduct their own search to find out what's happened to the other teens. After all, adults don't know the same things kids know about other kids. As they pledge to keep their activities a secret from everyone, their intense preoccupation with and complex pursuit of the Piper is putting the boys at risk of becoming one of his victims.

Told in first-person narrative by Angelo, one of the five boys, and at 756 pages in length, DECEMBER PARK by Ronald Malfi, is an intensely dark tale of how evil can adversely affect a town. The plot is suspenseful with complex characters, but it stretches out for way too long.

Book Summary

In the quiet suburb of Harting Farms, the weekly crime blotter usually consists of graffiti or the occasional bout of mailbox baseball. But in the fall of 1993, children begin vanishing and one is found dead. Newspapers call him the Piper because he has come to take the children away. But there are darker names for him, too . . .

Vowing to stop the Piper’s reign of terror, five boys take up the search. Their teenage pledge turns into a journey of self-discovery . . . and a journey into the darkness of their own hometown. On the twilit streets of Harting Farms, everyone is a suspect. And any of the boys might be the Piper’s next victim.