Goodwill

Horror

The origin of evil. The West has never been so scary.

One dark dawn in November 1851, after a seven-month-long journey, the settlers arrive in what will become Seattle. Hope, happiness and desperation blend with the rain that soaks them to the bone. Into this community of willing men and women, little Ambrosius Goodwill is born. His childhood passes happily until, at the age of four, playing in the woods, the boy disappears. He doesn’t come home for a week. The forest is combed inch by inch to no avail, and the Journey of Knowledge undertaken by the great Indian shaman to find some trace of the boy provides no reassurances. Then, one stormy day, Goodwill reappears on the doorstep. But he’s no longer the carefree child he was before: he doesn’t seem to suffer from hunger or cold, nor to get tired or feel emotions. And when tragedies start occurring in Seattle, affecting the whole community, word is that it’s the boy himself who has brought the misfortune…

  • Can you love a monster? Often, we latch onto pleasant memories, a delicate touch on the face, a hug, to enable us to close our eyes to the atrocities…
  • “A dark western thriller that’s right up there with the greatest international masters of the genre. Mighty writing that grabs you by the throat on the first page, dragging you into a vivid and coherent world.” Giuseppe Festa
  • The (standalone) prequel of the graphic novel Mercy, written by Mirka Andolfo, sold in 18 countries around the world and which became a best-seller in America.
Publisher: Piemme
Target: Young adult
Year: 2022
Author
Manlio Castagna

Screenwriter, director, author, and film critic, he spent over 20 years as part of the artistic direction of the Giffoni Film Festival.
He made his debut in children's fiction in 2018 with the bestselling Petrademone trilogy (Mondadori), translated into several languages. Since then, he has explored a wide range of genres: from the historical fantasy of La notte delle malombre and Di fuoco e seta (both longlisted for the Strega Ragazzi Award and finalists in various literary prizes), to the horror of Goodwill and Nessuno verrà a prenderti, to nonfiction with the cinema guide 116 Movies to See Before You’re 16, and the genre-bending novel Dedalo & Dharma, all the way to social noir with Barriera (all published by the Mondadori Group).
The Reincarnation of the Klun Sisters and Try Not to Sleep are his adult fiction titles.
In 2022, he made his directorial and screenwriting debut in cinema with Il viaggio degli eroi, produced by Rai Cinema and awarded with record-breaking viewership on Rai1.

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