1988: Thirteen-year-old Andy Miller and his friends - Carl, Brian, Johnny and Gavin - become witnesses to the vicious attack of their classmate, Poppy, and the brutal murder of her sister at a flooded railway line they call the frog ponds. They lead the police to a suspect, a vulnerable older boy whose differences single him out. But when he commits suicide, his guilt is never proven. And the crime goes unpunished, until . . .Now: Carl's body is found beside the same body of water - and the lives of the four remaining friends start to unravel. Is the hag-like woman terrorising their every waking moment really a grown-up Poppy hellbent on revenge? Or something else . . . something steeped in childhood nightmares? Something determined to reveal the truth and punish the wicked.