House of Reckoning

by John Saul

When 14-year-old Sarah Crane is seriously hurt by her alcoholic father Ed, she is sent to live with a foster family. However she soon realizes that her new foster family has only taken her in for the money they receive from the county. Sarah has difficulty making friends at her new school, though connects with Nick Dunnigan, a young boy recently released from a mental facility. Sarah also befriends Bettina Phillips, who lives in an old mansion known as Shutters.

As Sarah begins spending more time at Shutters, she senses crimes that have been committed by the prison's long-dead inmates. Though as Sarah begins to look further into the mystery, two of her enemies fall victims of violence, and their town becomes thirsty for revenge.