Who are they?
What do they want?
Why do they kill?
Can they be stopped?

You know who they are...if you've ever known fear.

In Palmerston, Pennsylvania, two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast-food restaurant — then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload.

On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenage girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won't be going home tonight.

In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stricken son tries to make sense of the accident that killed his parents — then finds a note stuffed in his father's favorite chair. It reads, "We're not dead."

Three seemingly unrelated events, these are the first signs of an unimaginable network of fear that will lead one unlikely hero to a chilling confrontation with the Straw Men. No one knows who they are — or why they kill. But they must be stopped. Michael Marshall's electrifying debut novel is an instant masterpiece of modern suspense. An epic thriller for anyone who has feared that someone is watching us.

"The Straw Men is brilliantly written and scary as hell. Be the first on your block to stay up all night with this one; it's a masterpiece." Stephen King

"Marshall writes as if he is possessed with the strengths of both [Dean Koontz and Stephen King] and bereft of their occasional weaknesses....With The Straw Men, Marshall demonstrates that the Next Big Thing is already here. Highest possible recommendation." Joe Hartlaub, BookReporter.com

"[O]nce the complex and disparate plot lines meld, this expansive work demands the reader's attention....Marshall's book is filled with pages of uninterrupted description, which, while compelling, doesn't make for fast reading." Publishers Weekly

This electrifying debut novel opens with three seemingly unrelated events that are the first signs of an unimaginable network of fear. Soon, one unlikely hero is led into a chilling confrontation with The Straw Men. No one knows who they are--or why they kill. But they must be stopped.