FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bradley Scott Wallace Announces the Release of MILLSTONE, a Southern Gothic Novel of Faith, Family, and Long-Buried Secrets
Virginia author Bradley Scott Wallace explores the dark history of a small town where generations of secrets refuse to stay buried.
VIRGINIA – Oct 07, 2026: Author Bradley Scott Wallace introduces readers to MILLSTONE, a haunting Southern Gothic novel set in a small Virginia valley where faith, family, history, and suspicion have shaped the community for generations.
At the center of MILLSTONE is a town built around an old mill and a powerful founding story. Decades earlier, the mill burned, killing 137 members of the community. Their remains were never moved from the site, and the tragedy became part of the town’s identity. Over time, the fire became more than an event in history. It became a warning, a legend, and a foundation for the beliefs that continued to shape Millstone.
But the town’s past becomes impossible to ignore when children begin disappearing.
The latest missing child is twelve-year-old Evan Vale. His disappearance quickly sends the community into panic and brings old fears back to the surface. As search efforts begin, the people of Millstone are forced to confront questions they have avoided for generations. What really happened at the old mill? Why have children disappeared before? And how much of the town’s history has been hidden behind faith, tradition, and silence?
The mystery deepens when the ruins of the old mill become the center of a dramatic event. What had remained standing for generations is suddenly gone, while Evan is still missing. The disappearance becomes a story that attracts attention far beyond the valley, forcing Millstone to face its past while the entire country watches.
At the same time, tensions between Millstone and neighboring Briar Bend reveal another side of the town’s history. Long-standing divisions between families and communities have created a deep social divide. Questions of belonging, power, class, religion, and tradition become increasingly important as the search for Evan continues.
Wallace uses the mystery at the heart of MILLSTONE to explore the way communities create and protect their own stories. In Millstone, history is not simply remembered. It is passed from one generation to another, shaping how people see themselves and how they judge others.
The novel also explores the complicated relationship between faith and power. The town’s founders believed that Millstone was a promised land, chosen for them through a divine vision. Their beliefs eventually became part of the community’s identity, preserved through a leather-bound ledger known as The Stone Covenant. The ledger becomes an important symbol of the town’s past and the beliefs that continue to influence its people.
As the story unfolds, readers encounter several generations of Millstone residents and witness how the town changes while its oldest wounds remain. From the early settlers who built the community to the families living there decades later, the same questions continue to return: What does a community owe its past? What happens when tradition becomes more important than truth? And what happens when the secrets people have protected for generations finally come to light?
The story follows Evan and his family while also widening its focus to the larger community. His twin brother Aidan, his parents, local law enforcement, church leaders, and other residents all become part of a growing search for answers. As investigators examine the evidence, even people who appear to be trusted members of the community come under suspicion.
The result is a story that combines mystery and suspense with a deeper examination of family, belief, memory, and community.
Wallace’s connection to Virginia also informs the setting and atmosphere of the novel. According to his author biography, he grew up in the Virginia foothills, surrounded by river towns, old mill roads, and the sense of history that comes with them. His professional background as a mortgage underwriter has also given him years of experience observing how communities rise, change, fracture, and endure.
MILLSTONE is Wallace’s second novel, following The Outermost. The book continues his interest in the myths people inherit and the secrets they carry, while creating a suspenseful story rooted in the landscape and culture of Virginia.
With its combination of Southern Gothic atmosphere, mystery, family drama, and questions about faith and power, MILLSTONE offers readers a story about what happens when the past refuses to remain in the past.
For the people of Millstone, the old mill was once a symbol of their faith and their beginning. Now, its ruins hold the key to a mystery that could change everything they believe about their town.
The question is no longer whether Millstone can survive its history.
The question is whether it can finally face the truth.
About the Author
Bradley Scott Wallace grew up in the Virginia foothills, where river towns, old mill roads, and the weight of history influenced his imagination. A longtime mortgage underwriter, Wallace has spent years observing how communities develop, change, and endure. His fiction combines that experience with an interest in the unseen forces that bring people together and drive them apart. MILLSTONE is his second novel, following The Outermost.
