Bob, Paul, Dave, Jeff, Ken, and Marc have been best friends since 6th grade -- known as the dirty half dozen. We first meet them the end of their senior year of high school when the boys are in the midst of a crazy prank that has far reaching ramifications. Together, the six boys face down an evil that has stalked the children of their New England town for over 200 years.

Thirty years later Bob calls the dirty half dozen home -- asking the guys to come for a reunion over Labor Day weekend. When everyone arrives from around the country, they find Bob passed away earlier in the week, but he has left them with several clues regarding a possible recurrence of the situation they faced their senior year. The rest of the group has their own issues to face in addition to following the trail Bob has left for them. Is the evil back? What sacrifices will the dirty half dozen make to keep the children of Sagebrook safe?

SACRIFICE is a straight-up thrill ride. Fast-paced writing with unexpected twists left me on the edge of my seat through-out much of the book. I actually found myself comparing Russell James style to Stephen King in several places -- which is high praise coming from me. With the boys, he has created a core group of protagonists that we can't help but cheer for, the quintessential underdogs. I initially found the writing style of slipping from past to present and back again a bit distracting, but it quickly grew on me and by the end of the book, I couldn't imagine the story being told any other way.