All the Devil's Creatures

A lynching on a secluded bayou. A strange boy with supernatural powers. Rogue science.It falls to small-time environmental lawyer Geoff Waltz to unravel the deadly conspiracy that connects these mysteries. Withdrawn from life and work since the death of his wife, Geoff wants only to secure a quick settlement from a petrochemical company he has sued for polluting the fragile bayou along the Texas-Louisiana border. But the lynching victim worked for him. And the odd, beautiful boy is his client’s grandson. Soon, with the help of private investigator Marisol Solis, he learns that there is something more sinister going on at the bayou than a chemical spill—secret work at a hidden facility that stretches the bounds of known science. Secret work worth killing for.But who is behind the conspiracy? And what is its ultimate goal? Mad science for mere profit? Or do the shadowy figures at work in the facility have a grander aim—to transform the world into a dystopian nightmare?Geoff and Marisol’s race to answer these questions takes them to New Orleans, a maniacal hit man on their trail. As the conspiracy nears fruition, the boy—the special, unearthly boy—emerges at its epicenter. And could be its next tragic victim.All the Devil’s Creatures is a thought-provoking, fast-paced paranormal thriller that does not shy away from issues of race, class, and environmental degradation in the American South. It is J.D. Barnett’s first novel. An earlier version, under the title China Island, won the 2011 Writers’ League Texas of manuscript contest in the thriller category.