On the day I returned to Templeton, knee-deep in shame, the over fifteen-meter-long carcass of a monster surfaced in the shimmering mirror lake. Thus begins "The Monsters of Templeton," a novel that spans two centuries: on one hand, it tells the story of a girl, Willie, searching for her father in the present, while on the other, it serves as a historical novel and ultimately a horror story. Overall, it thrillingly and enchantingly narrates how the secrets of a family manifest in a single town. As Willie attempts to uncover the truth about her origins, she delves into her family's mysteries. She discovers letters, newspaper articles, and diaries, and the dead seem to rise again to tell their stories. Dark riddles emerge, and the present and past blur into one another.