The Haint of Dryden

By Jerry Buchanan

In the mountains of Southwest Virginia, "Haint Blue" isn't a design choice. It's a deadbolt.

1946: A dark secret is buried in the emerald depths of the Powell River. A group of local men, bound by the L&N Railroad, watch a stranger in black disappear beneath the surface, thinking they've silenced the past. They didn't know the river has a long memory.

1964: James and Mandy Willis arrive from Indiana, eager to modernize an ancestral cabin. They scrape away the protective "Haint Blue" paint, unknowingly lowering the drawbridge for a predator that has been waiting for an invitation. By Monday, their car is idling in the drive, but the couple has vanished into the mountain mist.

1978: Two years into his career as a Reserve Deputy, Red Lawson begins digging into the files the Sheriff's Office tried to bury. He uncovers the legend of the "Lady in Black" and the terrifying blood debt Marshall Davis owed to the water.

2026: Decades after his first shift, Red returns to the "Davis Track" for one final patrol. Armed with a silver nursing pin and a single shard of cobalt glass, he must navigate the thin line between folklore and cold-blooded reality to settle a score eighty years in the making.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GW4RL837
• ISBN13: 9798224463633
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Jerry Buchanan
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 0.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"