leigh Paynter

     Leigh Paynter was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. She graduated from Rowan University with a degree in journalism and earned her M.S in Broadcasting from Syracuse University.

    For 15 years, she has worked as both a print and television journalist in New Jersey, Florida and California. She also served in the United States Peace Corps (2006-2008 Armenia).

"The Pine Barrens' Devil" is her first published work of fiction.
 

     For centuries, rumors persist of a demonic creature that haunts the Pine Barrens, a labyrinth of pine and cedar trees, mist covered bogs and abandoned colonial villages that stretch through the middle of New Jersey.

     For most New Jerseyans, the Jersey Devil exists somewhere between shadow and spectre. But the Pine Barrens is a very real place - an entity - harboring its own dark secrets and desire for self preservation.

     The enigmatic forest can seal a traveler’s fate - not everyone who walks into the Pine Barrens comes out.

     This book tells the tales of four travelers through different periods in American history, who vanished after encountering the Pine Barrens’ Devil. 

 Episode 28  The Pine Barrens' Devil, The Jersey Devil with Leigh Paynter