Outer Dark is a stark and evocative novel set in an unspecified place in Appalachia, sometime around the turn of the century. This compelling story follows a woman who bears her brother's child, a boy. The brother, in a cruel act, leaves the baby in the woods and tells her he died of natural causes.

Discovering her brother's deceit, she embarks on a journey alone to find her son. Both brother and sister wander separately through a countryside scourged by three terrifying and elusive strangers. Their paths lead headlong toward an eerie, apocalyptic resolution.

Outer Dark is a profound parable that speaks to the human condition and society's darkest corners. McCarthy's masterful prose paints a vivid picture of a world both mythical and hauntingly real.