Blood on the Pine

In the frozen heartlands of the 8th century, the forest is a sanctuary, and the silence is a religion. Timo is a creature of the deep winter-a massive, silent trapper who worships the ancient spirits of the hunt and the sacred claw marks carved into the great pines. But when a foreign fire appears on the southern horizon, bringing iron axes and a fanatical priest who preaches a single god, Timo's world begins to fracture.
His blood-brother, Eero, advocates for trade and surrender. Timo advocates for blood. When Timo's brutal defiance brands him an outlaw, he drags the captured Priest deep into the uncharted, snow-choked wilderness to interrogate him. But the Priest does not fear the dark. He tells Timo the silence of the forest is not a blessing-it is a door. And Timo has just unlocked it. Driven to the depths of the earth, Timo will find an ancient stone that predates the gods, a darkness that devours men's minds, and a truth that will shatter everything he has ever believed.
To save his brother, he must sacrifice his body. To save his world, he must break his faith. A visceral, breathtaking saga of blood, snow, and brotherhood, The Claw Marks is a brutal historical epic about the monsters men pray to, and the monsters they become when the prayers go unanswered.