Horns

Ignatius Perrish had a wild night and did some really bad things. The next morning, he awoke with a pounding headache, a thundering hangover, and two horns sprouting from his temples.

Ig first believed that the horns were a hallucination, the result of a mind that had been harmed by sorrow and fury. He had been in a solitary, private purgatory for the last year when his beloved Merrin Williams was killed inexplicably after being raped. That would have been the most natural thing in the world, a mental collapse. But the horns were all too real, and there was nothing natural about them.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it everything and more; he had Merrin and a relationship based on unusual midsummer enchantment, daring acts of both parties, and shared daydreams.

But all that was cursed by Merrin's death. Ig, the lone suspect in the crime, was never prosecuted or put on trial. He was also never exonerated. Ig is and will always be guilty in the eyes of the people in Gideon, New Hampshire, since his well-connected and wealthy parents pulled strings to end the inquiry. It doesn't matter what Ig says or does. Apparently, God is among those who have deserted him. All of them, save for the inner demon...