Some childhood nightmares never fade because the truth behind them was always too terrible to accept.
 
Anthony Genaro thought he'd escaped the horrors of Mount Loretto, the Staten Island orphanage where shadows held darker secrets than any child should know. But when a scene from The Godfather triggers long-repressed memories, he's compelled to return to the gothic church and wooded grounds that once imprisoned him—and to face the demon that still haunts his dreams.
 
They called him Nature Man.
 
A predator who stalked the forest at night. A beast whose eyes consumed souls. For years, Anthony and the other forgotten children whispered his name in terror, never knowing if the creature lurking in the darkness was real or imagined. Until the night Anthony confronted him—and barely survived.
Now, decades later, Anthony must return to uncover the truth. But some mysteries are better left buried. Some monsters wear familiar faces. And some places never let you leave—not really.
 
In the suffocating summer heat of 1960s New York, where Catholic orphanages ruled with medieval power and children's screams went unheard, one boy must finally distinguish between the demons in his mind and the very real evil hiding in plain sight.