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…

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.

“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

Publisher: Piemme
Target: Young adult
Year: 2022
Author
Manlio Castagna

A screenwriter, director, writer and film critic, Manlio Castagna has also been involved in the artistic direction of the Giffoni Film Festival for more than 20 years. He made his debut in children’s fiction in 2018 with the bestselling Petrademone trilogy (Mondadori), which has been translated into several languages. Since then, he has explored many different genres: from historical fantasy with La notte delle malombre (The Night of the Malombre) and Draconis Chronicon, to horror with Goodwill and Le Belve (The Beasts), passing through the “story” of cinema with the manual 116 film da vedere prima dei 16 anni (116 Films To See Before You’re 16) and the novel Dedalo & Dharma, up to social noir with Barriera (all for the Mondadori group). La reincarnazione delle sorelle Klun (The Reincarnation of the Klun Sisters) and Prova a non dormire (Try Not to Sleep) are his adult fiction books. In 2022, he made his film debut as a director and screenwriter with “Il viaggio degli eroi”, produced by Rai Cinema and rewarded with record audience numbers on Rai1.

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