Publishers Weekly
06/22/2020
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.)
From the Publisher
"The Children of Red Peak is ice-in-your-heart, nerve-racking fantastic - Heaven's Gate by way of Stephen King's IT. Almost every page made my skin crawl."—Peter Clines, New York Times bestselling author of Paradox Bound and Terminus
"With this chilling story of cult abuse, DiLouie proves his mastery of the slow slide from psychological drama into supernatural horror . . . . Horror readers will be hooked."—Publishers Weekly
"The Children of Red Peak is both a subtle character study and a chilling tale of horror. It goes deep into the heart of people caught up in terrifying events. Highly recommended."—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author
"A heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, terrifying tale about the meaning of life... 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)."—Booklist
"Gripping, thought-provoking, and suspenseful, Craig DiLouie's latest is a master study of darkness and light and the meaning of life."—Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author
"Absolutely riveting... A tapestry of past and present come together in this chilling tale of family, faith, and redemption. Craig DiLouie has a new fan."—J.D. Barker, international bestselling author of She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be
"DiLouie really knows how to simultaneously shatter nerves and break hearts. The Children of Red Peak is a genuinely unsettling psychological horror novel, a story where faith and fear combine to destroy innocence and devastate lives. Intense, compulsive, thought-provoking, and highly recommended."—David Moody, author of the Hater and Autumn series
"One of the most powerful voices in dark fiction does it again! Craig DiLouie's The Children of Red Peak delivers a suspenseful and unpredictable psychological exploration of family, belief, and horror as chilling as it is thought-provoking. One of the best books of the year!"—James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of On the Night Border
“Readers will find The Children of Red Peak a fantastically creepy addition to their fall reads.”—Nerd Daily
"Unsettling, frighteningly ambiguous… a cult horror story that explores trauma, faith and the search for meaning in the aftermath of tragedy.”—Shelf Awareness
“A solid, supernatural thriller, with a suspenseful twist as to what really happened will keep the reader on the edge of the seat, right to the final word of the novel.” —Red Carpet Crash
"DiLouie continues to be the master of writing the human heart and all the terrors it contains."—Peter Clines, New York Times bestselling author, on One of Us
"Craig DiLouie is not only one of the best fantasists working today, he's one of the best writers out there, period."—Bracken MacLeod, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Stranded, on Our War
"DiLouie's prose is eloquent, deeply compelling... It touches many chords of recognition, and that is yet another trait of a brilliant writer. Highly recommended."—San Francisco Review of Books on Our War
"Author Craig DiLouie is fearless as he explores the dark territory of the human heart."—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author on One of Us
"This is not a kind book, or a gentle book, or a book that pulls its punches. But it's a powerful book, and it will change you."—Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway on One of Us
