Enter once more the world of Roland Deschain--and the world of the Dark Tower. Now near death following a vicious attack by the inhuman Slow Mutants, Roland is detoured from his relentless pursuit of the Man in Black and is taken in by a mysterious and unearthly group of nuns who specialize in anything but the healing arts. These hideous, corpselike creatures--the Little Sisters of Eluria--have murder on their twisted minds. And in his current condition, there's almost nothing the last gunslinger can do to prevent their tender mercies from taking hold.