Bram Stoker Award-nominated author Craig DiLouie brings a new twist to the cult horror story in a heart-pounding novel of psychological suspense. “Horror readers will be hooked.” (Publishers Weekly)
“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 … Good Indians (2020), Paul Tremblay’s Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (2016), or Alma Katsu’s The Hunger (2018).” – Booklist
The answers lie buried at Red Peak. But truth has a price, and escaping a second time may demand the ultimate sacrifice.
“A subtle character story and a chilling tale of horror. It goes deep into the heart of people caught up in terrifying events.” — Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author.
Wow!!
The Children of Red Peak is a psychological thriller with a supernatural horror element. Author Craig DiLouie describes it as “a novel about the search for the meaning of life and the yearning for existence beyond death.” It is an absolutely riveting story.
The story is set in 2020 and California is on fire again. Wildfires are raging across the state, and David Young is headed south on Interstate 5, on his way to the funeral of his childhood friend, Emily. She wrote him a note before she took her own life: “I couldn’t fight it anymore.” David has never told his wife, Claire, about his past. He adores their children, Alyssa and Dexter, and has established a rewarding, successful career as an exit counselor. While deprogrammers are usually retained by family members and their goal is to re-train cult members and convince them to abandon their belief systems, exit counseling is voluntary and the interventions David stages are more akin to addiction interventions. His sister, Angela, is a police detective whose anger about the past fuels her.
At Emily’s funeral, David is reunited with Deacon Price, a rock musician with dyed black hair and numerous tattoos. And Beth Harris, the only one of the survivors who graduated from college, earning a doctorate in clinical psychology, but she has never married. She’s a successful psychologist, with a practice in Santa Barbara, who is “dedicated to a life of mental surgery to fix her scars.” When they were growing up together, she was in love with Deacon and still may be. He seems interested in rekindling their attraction, but she is unsure if it is a good idea.
The fifteenth anniversary is quickly approaching of the horrific event that David, Deacon, Beth, Emily, and Angela survived. They were the only survivors, and with Emily gone, only the four of them remain.
In 2002, eleven months after 9/11, David’s mother was convinced a war that would kill millions was coming. And they needed to be ready to meet Jesus. So she loaded all of their belongings into a U-Haul trailer and moved with nine-year-old David and Angela from Idaho to the Cummings Valley, near Tehachapi, east of Bakersfield, to join the Family of the Living Spirit, led by the Reverend Jeremiah Peale. She tells her children, “They live a pure life there, simple and close to God. We’re going to live off the land.”
Indeed, the Family of the Living Spirit existed in the wilderness where members erected a cluster of white buildings, one of which was their church. In a narrative commencing in 2002, DiLouie describes David’s arrival and assimilation into the Family. He and Angela meet the other children, and gradually become accustomed to the lifestyle, playing in the vast open spaces, attending the school and church services, and adapting to the rules imposed by Jeremiah, their charismatic and caring leader.
But as time passes, Jeremiah changes. He goes off on pilgrimages by himself and when he returns, delivers new edicts, claiming that he has received messages about how the Family should function. In 2005, he leaves Shepherd Wright in charge while he is away to “investigate an important spiritual matter” and is not pleased when he returns and discovers that “new ordinances” have been enacted. He reports that he went to Red Peak, the Mountain of the Great Spirit on the western side of Death Valley, where God told him, “Deliver your tribe unto me!” So the Family migrates to Red Peak where living conditions are much worse, and Jeremiah leads them into hard labor, starvation, trance states that facilitate mind control, and unspeakable acts culminating with one horrific tragedy that destroyed the Family of the Living Spirit — with the exception of five traumatized children.
In the present-day, DiLouie compassionately explores the pain-wracked lives of David, Deacon, Beth, and Emily. They were rescued from Red Peak and provided treatment. But they carry with them the atrocities they witnessed as Jeremiah descended further into madness and his flock obeyed his crazed directives. Each of them suffers from survivor’s guilt, questioning why they did not meet the same fate as the other members of the Family, and struggles to make sense of their history and present circumstances. To develop each character, DiLouie says he defined their individual personality traits and then worked to “show how their dominant childhood trait is now taken to the limit as a crutch in adulthood. This trait and their response to what happened to them form their character arc, their professions, and the choice they make at the end of the novel when the mystery is revealed.” For example, “David was easily scared as a child and so he’d often hide from what scared him; as an adult, he’s now a cult exit counselor — he helps people escape — and he emotionally shuts down when confronted by stress, which costs him meaningful relationships and may cost him his marriage.”
Something supernatural, defying scientific explanation, took place at Red Peak on that unforgettable day. Deacon believes that wholeheartedly, David copes by living in a state of busyness and denial, and Beth chalks it up to a “glitch of mental perception.” As the anniversary approaches, Beth proposes that they return to Red Peak to see if any memories resurface. “Confront the source of our trauma, clarify our memory in safety, and put it behind us forever.” She is convinced that no matter what happens at Red Peak, she will “come home a new woman, strong and complete and wanting nothing.” Deacon immediately agrees, but David is hesitant, noting that when Emily committed suicide he experienced the first panic attack he’d suffered in many years. But he is convinced when Beth explains that exposure therapy is an effective way to treat post-traumatic stress disorder — returning to a place that is frightening under conditions that permit the patient to safely confront his/her fears. Angela had already returned to Red Peak numerous times in search of clues and in a quest for justice, convinced that the Family was duped.
DiLouie illustrates the quartet’s pilgrimage to Red Peak in search of answers and relief from years of torment. Emily had been investigating, and learned that events similar to the one in 2005 had happened before. Could it happen again? Each of them has a theory, but they are determined to find answers . . . and peace. DiLouie proves himself a master of suspense, horror, and science fiction as the story races toward its shocking and explosive conclusion.
The Children of Red Peak is both an insightful, tender exploration of the psyches of five damaged people who, after experiencing unimaginable events, strive to carry on and make meaningful lives for themselves. It is also an inventive, clever study in horror and the powers of the supernatural. DiLouie says his inspiration for the story was a reading of Genesis and the story of Abraham. God commands Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as an offering but stops him from killing Isaac at the last second. DiLouie observes that many “people view this story as a wonderful testament about faith and obedience. Me, I wondered: What would the story sound like if it was told from Isaac’s point of view?” Cults are, of course, fascinating from psychological and sociological perspectives, but DiLouie wanted to tell a story “through the lens of a religious group that is insular but relatively content, and how it logically slides into horror after its leader comes back from a trip and basically says, ‘I talked to God, he’s waiting for us at a mountain, we’re going to Heaven, and we’ll be tested when we get there’ They’re of course going to go, and if the tests are horrifying, they can’t be bad if they are from God.”
DiLouie says his goal was to create a story readers would find “emotional and captivating.” He has succeeded. The Children of Red Peak is heart-wrenching and nightmare-inducingly terrifying. Parts of the story are extremely upsetting and difficult to read, but it is also fascinating, thought-provoking, and a powerful exploration of the meaning and limits of faith, how we respond to and overcome trauma, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
Leisure reading time is rather hard for me to come by right now, so whenever I start a new book I want to be sure it’s one I’ll like. Well, as sure as one can be about such things, anyway. Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Craig DiLouie’s earlier books ONE OF US and OUR WAR, his latest novel THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK was among my most anticipated releases of 2020. Classified as Horror, this is a book that defied genre tropes and explores the darker aspects of human nature, both in groups and in individuals.
Fifteen years ago, five youngsters survived the grisly final days of the Family of the Living Spirit in the shadow of Red Peak. The bodies of the dead were never found, leading to the incident being known as the Medford Mystery (after the nearby town) and sowing confusion about what really happened among the survivors. When one of their fellow survivors commits suicide as the anniversary draws near, David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris find themselves reunited at her funeral and forced to face those lingering questions from the cult’s final days.
Craig DiLouie excels in creating compelling, complex characters, and intertwining their individual stories to create something that is more than a sum of its parts (a technique he employed to great effect in both ONE OF US and OUR WAR). Any one of David, Deacon, or Beth could’ve carried an entire novel on their own, but by braiding their narratives the reader is given a richly layered examination of theme and different perspectives on events both present and long past.
THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK is a slow burn, but certainly a rewarding one, as the reader follows each of the three coming to terms with their past in their own ways. Each draws on their childhood experience in their current professional lives; David as a cult exit counselor, Beth as a psychologist, and Deacon as a black-clad, heavily-tattooed musician. As the story progresses, we also see how their personal lives have been affected by what they went through. They’re all coping in the best way they can, with varying degrees of success. In each of their stories, we see how David, Deacon, and Beth have internalized their trauma and built some sort of life over the last fifteen years. DiLouie is not one to gloss things over, though, and rightly portrays these characters as troubled and flawed, each a maelstrom storming under a veneer of functionality.
Mild spoilers; fairly warned be thee, says I:
Flashback chapters trickle out vivid remembrances of life with the Family of the Living Spirit, tracing the group’s metamorphosis from an idyllic commune focused on simple living and piety, to a fanatical cult defined by acts of physical sacrifice and repentance that go well beyond flagellation, a shift marked when the Family moves from their farm to nearby Red Peak. The cultists, believing their ascension is imminent, eagerly submit to bodily mutilation as a rite of purification with the offending articles being given as burnt offerings at the altar of their new temple. The willingness with which the practice is embraced by most of the faithful is one of the true moments of horror in the book; while it would’ve been easy for this to have read as a caricature of cult behavior, the few dissenting voices present make the passage feel all the more real.
The question threaded through the novel, both in the present and flashback chapters, remains “Is there really anything at the top of Red Peak? And if there is… is it God, or something more sinister?” It turns out the Family of the Living Spirit are not the first (or last) group to think there’s something to it, and the latter chapters of the book find the survivors seeking answers of their own as the anniversary of the Medford Mystery draws near.
[END SPOILERS]
I won’t go into the details (as that would spoil the book’s truly worthy ending) but the final scenes for David, Deacon, and Beth are as introspective and deeply personal as any found in the book and are, for each character, wholly satisfying. Suffice it to say, there’s much in the ending that is left open to the reader to interpret, and while that ambiguity may leave some feeling cut loose without answers, it’s also a reminder that the answers to life’s questions typically aren’t handed to you in an envelope with a big gold seal.
A fantastic, slow burn suspense. Craig DiLouie offers a compelling, atmospheric narrative with strong characterization in a storyline that moves between past and present. DiLouie deftly captures the dark and insidious underpinnings of cult life while at the same time offering readers a glimpse of redemption and recovery. Great read.
Thank you to #RedHookBooks for the ARC of #TheChildrenOfRedPeak which was read and reviewed voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
“The hardest thing about escaping a cult wasn’t leaving but making sure it had left you.”
I really loved this book almost all the way through (even though I’m not usually a big fan of books about cults). But, for me, the ending was not good. Some people will be okay with it but, for me, it was too ambiguous.
The story focuses on five adults in 2020 that lived through a mysterious mass death cult experience in 2005. Now one of the members decides they can’t go on anymore and that triggers the group into wanting to go back to the death site and try to regain their memories and find answers.
This was an in-depth look at growing up in a cult, both from the positive and negative sides.
The character development was done in depth, giving the reader an insider look at different viewpoints at living in a cult.
There were definite supernatural and horror aspects in the story, which added to the storyline.
So I highly recommend this book, after you take into account what I’ve written above.
I received this book from Redhook Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
I received an e-Galley ARC of The Children Of Red Peak, authored by Craig DiLouie, from NetGalley and the publisher Redhook Books; my honest review follows below, freely given. I am thankful for the opportunity.
I rated this novel 5 stars.
Cults are a real world phenomenon, death cults a subset that by name warn you of their intended tragic end. It may seem impossible to us, the likelihood of ever falling into the clutches of such an institution, but I would caution you to remember most begin as a much desired familial embrace. The cult is filling an emotional void members had been unable to fill otherwise. I think the author was emphatic when writing the survivors, also the members who did not, those who believed to the very end, and those who may have wavered. As the reader, some characters were open books (see what I did there?), while others would always remain enigmas. It is a nonlinear timeline, but easily marked so you will not be confused, which I appreciated.
As always, saying too much about the story can spoil it. I will say these suggestions:
Adam Nevill wrote Last Days, which is another fictional novel with a cult, that is not quite similar, adjacent maybe? If you have read it and enjoyed, I think you would like this novel.
The Veil (2016) is a cult movie with Jessica Alba and Thomas Jane, which I absolutely think should get more love, but also if you have seen it and dug it, you know the deal…check out this book yeah?
The Endless (2017) is a cult movie with Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, I immediately thought of this movie while reading, because TCoRP invoked that same head rush; I knew I experienced something new to the sub-genre and I was loving it. As above so below, like this movie, I think you would like this book.
This is my first work by the author I have read, but I am going to be looking up all his work that I can to catch up. I also am going to buy a copy of my own, because I want to hold that beautiful cover in my hands when I read it again.
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.