An African-American teenager's alienation is taken to the extreme in this utterly surreal and dark work of Weird Fiction. Deep down, Robert Goldner knows he's a mistake. His mother told him so when he was just five years old. But he never found the courage to ask just what she meant before she was murdered under mysterious circumstances on his eleventh birthday. Now, on the eve of his seventeenth birthday, Robert is dead set on becoming a Virginia high school state wrestling champion in order to redeem himself once and for all, reversing whatever curse his mother saw within him. One of the few blacks on a predominantly redneck team, Robert has struggled for years to remain clear-headed and independent in a school divided by race and conquered by cliques. But when something from Beyond takes possession of his body and mind, wrestling with his very soul, he may find his "birthday" to be a gateway to a horrifying truth about himself and the fundamental nature of Reality. is a dark metaphysical fantasy--psychological, philosophical, bizarre, and intense. Due to its language and themes, this book is intended for mature readers. This book is a prequel to the series.