Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

Twelve-year-old Steven Lamb spends his spare time digging on the moors, hoping to find where his Uncle Billy is buried. Almost twenty years ago, eleven-year-old Billy went missing and was assumed to be murdered by Arnold Avery, a serial killer of children. Steven feels his sorry home life would improve if both his grandmother and mother had some closure, so he takes his search a step further when he writes to Avery in prison hoping to coax his uncle's whereabouts out of the mind of a man who would love nothing more than to kill again. But Avery is unused to attention after being locked away for all these years and relishes nothing more than playing games with the letter writer, especially after he discovers that the person is a young boy. Does young Steven realize just how perilous the game can become? Blacklands, a first novel, by Belinda Bauer packs both a emotional and psychological punch. I had a hard time putting it down and can't wait to see what the author writes next. Creepily good....