The Rat Catcher's King — John F.D. Taff

The Rat-Catcher's King is a twisted retelling of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, in a modern setting. A new housing development under construction in a low-income area promises a renaissance for the city, but there's just one problem. Rats. Increasingly concerned over the publicity the rats might bring, the mayor orders the search for an exterminator to solve the problem. The search brings a new kind of exterminator to the area--a being with more than 600 years of experience in culling a community's unwanteds. At first, all appears well. The rats disappear. Then the pigeons--then the city's homeless. Then the children.... Only two men notice the children are gone--or remember anything at all about them. And these two men must confront the rat catcher's king--a battle that pitches everything they hold dear against an ancient and intractable foe.