Synopsis

Thirty years ago, in the English countryside, a commune was set up. Led by Uncle Saviour, it was supposed to be a place of love, peace and harmony. But what started out as paradise turned into hell.

Now, two young children have vanished from their home in the middle of the night. Their parents are frantic, the police are at a loss.

Could the key lie in events that took place decades ago, when a dream of a new way of life became something far more sinister?

Review

Thrillers have been a bit of a miss recently. They’re either super predictable, badly written or a loose Agatha Christie retelling.

What I’m looking for in a thriller is something that’s creepy, makes me recoil and feel a little bit sick. I also expect it to be a quick read, because I’m so engrossed in the story.

The Cult won’t be for everyone, but it ticked a lot of boxes for me. Most of the characters were extremely engaging: the vampiric Uncle Saviour – twisted and dark, but genuinely caught up in his beliefs and the naïve, heartless Love who is just a child when we first meet her.

Although parts of the book are disturbing in a graphic way, what makes this book scary is that cults do exist and the children within them are brainwashed into doing unspeakable things that they believe are for the greater good. As we watch Love grow from a small child into a teenager who marries her uncle and then, into an adult who continues with the horrific practices he taught her, we realise how easy it is to manipulate the weak.

There are some brutal, shocking moments and although there’s no big plot twist, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the missing children and where they are, which keeps the book intriguing. The dual timeline also means that you don’t know what happens to the cult itself until towards the end when the stories collide.

I did feel that the detectives discovered the cult a bit too quickly, making the last part of the book a little scarce in detail, and there were a few unanswered questions, but overall this was a gripping page turner that I devoured in one sitting.

I received a copy of the book from the author and Insta Book Tours. All opinions my own.

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