No one could have imagined Odd Thomas ever leaving the perfect quirky comfort of Pico Mundo, least of all Odd himself. The little desert town that nurtured Odd all his life is the locus of everything he holds dear-his loyal friends, his ghostly confidants, and the place where he loved and lost his soul mate, the irreplaceable Stormy Llewellyn. Yet leave it he has, to embrace the solitude and peace of an isolated monastery high in the western mountains as he tries to find a way to live fully again. But Odd has a knack for finding himself in the path of trouble no matter where he goes-even among the eccentric monks in their sanctuary and with the King of Rock 'n' Roll at his side. For a killer is stalking the ancient holy halls, and Odd is about to encounter an enemy who eclipses any he has yet encountered…