Book excerpt: Welcome to Bright Falls-a seemingly idyllic small town in the Pacific Northwest. The perfect place for Alan Wake, a bestselling crime novelist, and his wife, Alice, to relax for a few weeks. Maybe a second honeymoon and the fresh air will cure Wake of his writer's block. But when Alice goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Wake's desperate search for her leads him into a hell only he could imagine. In the depths of nearby Cauldron Lake, a dark and malevolent presence has awakened from a long slumber. It's reaching out now, turning the townsfolk into mindless killers. Sheathed in shadows, vulnerable only to light, they are Taken. Wake's journey will lead him to the very edge of madness, and deep within the dark woods, he will come face-to-face with a story he has no recollection of ever writing.