“There’s been an accident…”

With those four words, Nathan Sherwood is summoned home. His mother inexplicably fell off the roof of her house. His grandmother died in her sleep. Two years out of college and starting a career in Washington, Nathan’s efforts to leave behind the pain of growing up in Apple Glen, Ohio come to a dead stop. Not only must he return home to bury “Mom and Gram,” he must also confront what he thought was his buried past.

Joined by childhood friend Robbye O’Malley, Nathan discovers that the deaths of his loved ones may not have been “an accident.” A third death, the shooting of a church youth group leader by Apple Glen police, impels the pair to work together and look beneath the surface of their seemingly picturesque town. As Nathan and Robbye talk with people in search of answers, stories of alcohol, rape, payoffs and paybacks emerge, while three names keep surfacing: Apple Glen’s Police Chief William Tecumseh Hermann, Town Trustee and high school football coach Jake Miller, and Wade “The Spade” Speicher—Apple Glen’s funeral director.

In dealing with the demons of his personal grief, the search for his father, and confronting the injustices in his home town, Nathan discovers the truth about the present is connected to the truth about his past. But will he have the courage to reveal the truth?  Or will he continue to be a victim? 

East of Apple Glen is seven chapters, taking place Sunday through Saturday.