Alex Bledsoe’s The Hum and the Shiver wasnamed one of the best fiction books of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews. Now Bledsoe comes back towards the isolatedridges and hollows of the Smoky Mountains to spin an similarly enchanting tale ofmusic and magic over the age of the hills.

Touched by a very public tragedy, musicianRob Quillen comes to Cloud County, Tennessee, searching for a song that mightease his aching heart. All he understands of the mysterious and reclusive Tufa iswhat he provides read on the Internet: these are an about Wisp of a Thing enigmatic clan of swarthy,black-haired hill people whose historical roots are dropped in myth andcontroversy. Some state that when the 1st white settlers found theAppalachians centuries ago, they found the Tufa currently there. Others hint thatTufa blood brings carefully selected presents.

Rob finds both music and mystery in themountains: close-lipped locals safeguard their secrets, even as Rob gets caught upin a subtle power struggle he can’t begin to comprehend. A vacationing wifegoes missing, raising suspicions of bad play. And a strange feral female runswild in the woods, howling in the night like a dropped spirit.

Change is coming toCloud County, in support of the night blowing wind knows what component Rob can play when thelast leaf falls through the Widow’s Tree-and a timeless curse have to at last end up being broken.