With this chilling story of cult abuse, DiLouie (Our War) proves his mastery of the slow slide from psychological drama into supernatural horror. As the 15th anniversary of the mass suicide of the Family of the Living Spirit approaches, one of the five survivors of the cult commits suicide and the other four reunite at her funeral. David Young, now a cult exit counselor, uses his happy home life to avoid thinking about the past; his sister, Andrea, a police officer, stews in her anger; rocker Deacon Price pours his pain into his music; and Beth Harris, a psychologist with intense PTSD, convinces them all that revisiting the cult's base in Red Peak, Calif., will give them some closure. The compassion DiLouie builds for each of these four, both in the present as they plan their return to Red Peak and in flashbacks to their childhoods in the cult, makes the tale's eventual dark turn hit especially hard. DiLouie also extends a surprising amount of goodwill to Jeremiah Peale, the intense, folksy preacher who founded the cult, showing the way the desperate community of Family of the Living Spirit became easy prey for a supernatural evil. An impressive twist, meanwhile, feels both shocking and inevitable. Horror readers will be hooked. Agent: David Fugate, Launchbooks Literary. (Nov.)

Stoker-nominated DiLouie (One of Us, 2018) returns with a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, terrifying tale about the meaning of life. In 2005, members of a religious cult committed suicide on top of Red Peak. Five children survived, but when the authorities rescued them, there were no bodies anywhere. Now, as the 15th anniversary approaches, one survivor commits suicide, forcing the others--and their psychological wounds--back together. Told from the alternating perspectives of three survivors, both in the present and in flashbacks to their time with "The Family," the book illustrates the same events from different angles without sacrificing a compelling pace that builds relentlessly until each narrator is forced to confront their trauma in a beautiful and terrifying climax. Utilizing true crime tropes and the supernatural intrigue that surrounds the mountain itself, DiLouie creates more than a typical cult thriller. This is an emotionally devastating, ultimately hopeful horror story about trauma, the power of love, and the unexplainable forces that surround us. A great choice for fans of Stephen Graham Jones' The Only Good Indians (2020), Paul Tremblay's Disappearance at Devil's Rock (2016), or Alma Katsu's The Hunger (2018).