An eleven-year-old boy's corpse is discovered in a town park, and eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City's most popular citizens—Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. It looks like a straightforward case, but in Stephen King's twisty thriller—the source of the 2020 HBO series—a supernatural being is about to terrorize this quiet Oklahoma town.