Overall this book disappointed me. I love a good cult story and wished that the horror aspects that are shown later in the story were more spread out in the rest of the book to engage the reader quicker. It took awhile for me to get into it and the plot seemed a bit slow. I also found most of the characters hard to like which may have been intentional, but nonetheless that’s how I feel.

The Children of Red Peak is about child survivors of a cult, reunited years later after one of their friends commits suicide. After meeting up at the funeral, and sharing stories, memories start to resurface and they all begin to question what really happened that night that everything fell apart - what happened to their families?

The Children of Red Peak has two timelines, the present day where the characters reunite, and look at returning to Red Peak, and the past when they were growing up and their commune slowly grew into an unstable cult, culminating at their final days at Red Peak, I did have a marked preference between the two timelines, far preferring what happened over what was currently happening, but both timelines are important and interesting in their own way.

I do have an exceptional fondness for books about cults, so I did have a bit of a bias with this one, immediately enjoying the background story in their lives as children, showing how the commune began, the friendships they built, and the evolution from backwoods commune to religious cult. I continued to enjoy the book, and the story about the cult, right up until the very end. It felt abrupt and was sort of unfulfilling, which was disappointing after such an intriguing build up. It wasn’t a bad ending, it just felt a bit lacklustre compared to the memories the characters were rebuilding as the story went on.

Despite the ending not working great for me, the rest of the book is really fun, and for any other reader with that unhealthy interest in reading all the stories they can about cults, this is definitely one to add to the reading list.

I honestly can’t say if it was because I had to return to life and got interrupted while reading or this book just wasn’t my cup of coffee. In my opinion it’s a slow burn that just fizzles out. I definitely think it leaves questions unanswered but it was well written! I can appreciate the research, especially when Deacon is narrating, that went into this.

Cult, the atonement of sins and sacrifice. The ultimate act of faith committed by an entire community who followed their Reverend to cross over to be with God and only 5 children survived to tell about that awful night.

It’s been 15 years, and those five children, now all adults, are down to just four. They all received the same letter: I couldn’t fight it anymore. Sweet Emily took her life.

They haven’t seen each other in years. Not since their time in group therapy after the incident until each of them was sent to foster care or was adopted, but they all struggled in different ways to cope with their past while growing up.

This Bram Stoker award-nominated novel tells the story of these cult survivors in their pov’s alternating between the present and the past. It starts of so normal, not perfect by any means: broken families of oftentimes just one parent seeking refuge with Reverend Peale in his community near Red Peak, California. David and his sister Angela, for instance, commute for two days to make a new beginning with their mother, after their father cheated on her and left them. With the signs of an impending apocalypse per Reverend Peale, shortly after 9/11, their mom couldn’t give a darn about what would happen to him or his new girlfriend, as long as she brought her kids to safety. Now, years later, David practices Exit counseling for those trying to get away from Cults, which are plenty around in this country.

Unlike Deacon, who now pours all his feelings into music gigging from one low-brow bar to the next trying to catch a break, Beth is a phycologist and has it all together. Somewhat OCD, it is her way of coping: order, patterns, regularity, and that nightly glass of wine that keeps her centered and sane.
Angela was the most skeptical of them all during her childhood, and now that they are back in touch with each other, convinces them to go back to Red Peak to fully process and make peace with what happened.

In painstaking bits, we follow the characters in this eerie novel into the deepest and darkest places of their souls. There is this slow-burn element of events, that begins to become creepier and creepier giving insight into how easily manipulated the mind can be in the most vulnerable situations as well as the torment to overcome something so horrific.

I read this novel rather quickly because I became fairly glued to the suspense and lured into the drama with a need to find out what happened and what these characters will ultimately end up doing. I can’t say this was the most heart-pounding or engrossing novel I have read, but it certainly has the “I can’t look away from this train wreck” attributes. Most awful was the mutilation of the members/parents in the cult that voluntarily starved and sacrificed body parts of themselves to ready for the ultimate passage. Throw in the innocent children, helpless and brainwashed, and you have yourself a subtle and disturbing read such as this one.

Like I mentioned, the characters offer an array of personalities and I found myself connecting to many of their thoughts because deep down, they all exhibited vulnerable human traits easily to connect with such as underlying fears, worry, and anxieties, etc. But there were also positive vibes to come across such as their deep childhood connection and friendship, firsts of things like stolen kisses, and straight-up happy child’s play. While the entirety of this mysterious cult unfolds, the reader gains a real sense of the characters in it.

If you enjoy a little shock and chill…this could be your next read.

Enjoy!

I was all for horror and cults. This definitely had a lot of intricate information on the last day of the particular cult described in this book.

The story is about the survivors, who are adults now and have suppressed memories and of course left over PTSD from the last day, and the mystery surrounding it. Noone knows where the bodies of the"family" have gone.

As we go from current timeline to the past we're told in grim detail of what these kids remember about the event. How it all led up to it, and eventually are revealed the supernatural entity that was the cause of all this.

The character wallowing was lackluster to me. Their grim, desperate try to survive and understand, and eventually seek the meaning of life.. it was kind of boring. The writing is very detailed, and very well done. Even if some parts were unnecessary like bits about how music and songwriting is done. I understand there's a lot of knowledge shared, but it felt unnecessary.

In the end, the ending seemed rushed and definitely disappointing. I expected more than returning to their old mental states. But I guess that's how cults do exist - they can't ever be unlearned.

Thank you to Red Hook Books for my review copy.

"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.

The Review

A remarkably haunting novel, author Craig DiLouise does an amazing job of capturing the raw horror of surviving a doomsday cult. The novel explores the horrors of the cult and the power that changed the path the cult was originally on, but the true heart of this story comes in the characters themselves.

The characters are the gateways into the heart of this story, exploring how the actions of the cult impacted them each in their own ways. While the powerful and supernatural elements of the story that kicks in towards the climax of the story are fascinating, the true horror that comes into this narrative is the cult itself.

As someone who is fascinated and interested in cults and how they come to form, it was engaging to see the character’s own experiences, as they seem so similar to horror stories that have happened in real life. From the change in the cult’s practice from peaceful worship to blind faith to the insistence of obedience to the cult overall and the chilling actions that resulted in murder, mutilation and cultists disappearing, the true scares and spine-chilling atmosphere explored in this novel comes from the cult, something many readers will be drawn to in this novel.

The Verdict

A powerful, emotional, and horrific modern-day horror novel, author Craig DiLouise’s “The Children of Red Peak” is a marvelous read. The shocking events of the past collide with the horrific truth of the future in this novel, and protagonist David, his sister Angela and the other survivors immediately draw the reader in with their own coping skills in the wake of the cult and their bonds with one another. It’s a perfect read as the holiday season approaches, and the book’s final confrontation will have readers thinking critically about the nature of the universe itself. Be sure to grab your copy of this amazing read today.

First off, huge thanks to Netgalley, Redhook the publisher and Craig DiLouie for approving me for a digital ARC of 'The Children of Red Peak.' I would've had this read and reviewed by release date, but I didn't find this until late last week after seeing Michael Patrick Hicks post that he was reading it. I hit request, believing whole-heartedly I wouldn't get approved with the release date looming, but thank you for the approval.

Saying that - AHHHHHHHHHHHH and ERRRRGGGHHHHHHHH

I absolutely loved this book and absolutely hated this book. I blame you MPH, you SOB! haha!

In July of this year, I came across a complete paperback set of The Dark Tower series on Facebook Marketplace. I immediately went to pick it up and while chatting with the man (aka capitalbookreview on Instagram) we shared some books we'd read that were page turners. He asked if I'd read 'Suffer the Children' by DiLouie and I was pretty sure I had. Turns out - I hadn't. Turns out - I didn't even own it. So, I snagged the Kindle version and was going to start it last week... until this approval!

What I liked: 'The Children of Red Peak' follows a group of child hood friends, now grown up, trying to come to terms with the events in their burgeoning teens. While they were all 14 and 15, their parents moved them to a religious group in search of the Holy Spirit. While here, their enigmatic leader, Jeremiah, hears of a miracle at the top of Red Peak.

DiLouie puts forth that the Family of the Living Spirit is a cult and as such treats it as one, but for the most part, I found it sounded a lot like devoted religious people who have turned their backs of society. Of course, with the promise of ascension and eternal life, we fall more into Heaven's Gate cult territory, but for the first 75% of the book, it's fairly mundane worship stuff.

I loved the small snippets of flashbacks and even the memories shared of the final night. DiLouie does have a very easy way of writing and I found I was feverishly turning the pages, even if I was growing frustrated at times. I just simply wanted to know what happened, which I think at the heart of any phenomenal writer and any stunning book, is the biggest key to unlock that door for the reader. The draw, the pull, the intrigue.

Along the way we get to learn more and more about the fall out from the survivors shared horrors and more pointedly, just what happened in the weeks leading up to and then the final night itself.

DiLouie has woven such a stunning story within the story that this was truly what wrapped around my readers brain and pulled me through the rest of the book.

Because...

What I didn't like: At its heart 'The Children of Red Peak' is a philosophical look at life and religion. While this can work well, for me it took up far too much property. Time and time again, we'd get small snippets of back story and then chapter after chapter of what was happening now. The entire premise of the story was the survivors returning to Red Peak 15 years later and seriously - this doesn't even occur until about the 80% mark.

I also want to mention the 15 year anniversary idea. We get a lot of present day story. About David being a cult exit counsellor, and Beth being a psychologist and Deak being a rock star (with far too much time dedicated to his concept album, his shows) etc, but the entire time I read this I was picturing them all as 40 somethings, not recently having turned 30. The age was jarring and at times had thrown me for a loop.

And lastly (I mean there's other things but I won't spoil everything!) the climax. The finale. A few pages for each person, a few pages of finale. I was pissed off. I wanted to throw my Kindle. I immediately messaged Michael to complain about how I wanted so much more. GODDDDDD! I'm still furious haha! DAMN YOU DILOUIE! You had me chasing that carrot all the way up the friggin' hillside only to learn nothing. Maybe that was part of it? Maybe that was a thematic door jam. Popped in there to work metaphorically about the nature of faith and blind following? You die and then it's over? The book definitely had me thinking, but at the same time, I'm still angry about how it played out.

Why you should buy this: DiLouie is an absolutely beast of a writer. I'm ashamed to not have read 'Suffer the Children' now and even more ashamed that I had no idea he was only three hours south in Calgary. 

'The Children of Red Peak' will be one of those books where you either love it or hate it. Either way, it is a fast-paced read that will have you thinking and while it didn't answer the questions I wanted answered, it may for you. I'm sticking with my initial assessment here - I absolutely loved this book and absolutely hated it. Which for many folks would indicate DiLouie did his job perfectly.

This is my first Craig DiLouie book and it definitely won't be my last.. I know it sounds wrong to say I enjoyed a book about a doomsday death cult....but I really did. I was riveted. The Children of Red Peak is a mystery that evolves into a bit of a horror novel. It bounces back and forth between present day and fifteen years prior when the "cult events" took place.

This story follows three main characters, David, Deacon and Beth. They each survived the suicide/death pact of the cult, along with two others. We get a lot of their perceptions of the events leading up to the fateful day fifteen years ago. The day that everyone either committed suicide or killed those who were unwilling to. Then the bodies mysteriously disappeared. The five teenagers who survived have each struggled with the events of that day and dealt with it in their own way. For the most part, they are each still haunted by it. Early in this book, one of their friends has committed suicide. Her funeral brings them all together for the first time in years. With the fifteenth anniversary quickly approaching, they discuss revisiting Red Peak to try to put their "ghosts" to rest.

I think the author did a great job of demonstrating how this experience has shaped David, Deacon and Beth. He shows how damaged they each are and that they aren't sure how to fix it. I would have liked to know more about David's sister, Angela who was also a survivor. We get a small portion of her insight later in the book. I think she was a character that had a great deal of potential.

I loved the flashback scenes when the reader had an opportunity to see how each of these young people cared about their parents and the leader of their cult. It was easy to see how caught up in it all they were. Then things took a bizarre turn and they were quickly frightened of where it was heading. I was a fan of blending past and present this way. I really liked the way it helped the overall storyline to flow. I liked the premise of the cult as the basis for this story with the extra add-0n of an unknown force. It amped up the creep factor and made the book even harder to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review this book and the opinions contained within are my own.

The nitty-gritty: DiLouie explores the emotional aftermath of surviving a doomsday cult in his latest, a dark and atmospheric tale steeped in mystery.

The Children of Red Peak is my third Craig DiLouie book, and once again I’m in awe of his storytelling skills and the way he is able to evoke emotions. DiLouie tends to choose dark topics for his stories—racism, war and now cults—and his books are not always easy to read, but each one has been a powerful experience for me, and his latest is no exception. And while Our War is still my favorite of his books that I’ve read, I thought The Children of Red Peak was a solid story with plenty of emotional impact.

DiLouie alternates between the past and the present and tells the story of a group of children—now adults—who were the only survivors of a doomsday cult called the Family of the Living Spirit. Back in 2005, Deacon, Beth, Angela, David and Emily managed to escape that horrifying night when over a hundred cult members died. Despite a bloody crime scene, none of the bodies were ever found, and the infamous event is now referred to as the Medford Mystery.

Now fifteen years later, the survivors find themselves together again under unfortunate circumstances. Emily has committed suicide, and the other four are attending her funeral. This fateful meeting triggers horrifying memories and emotions, as Deacon, Beth, Angela and David are faced with the biggest mystery from their past: what actually happened that last night on Red Peak? With the anniversary date of the event approaching, the four must come to terms with their feelings about the cult by confronting their past one final time.

I’ve always been fascinated with cults, and I have vague memories from childhood of some of the more infamous ones. I remember the Jonestown Massacre and how shocked I was that something like that could even happen. DiLouie bases his story on cults like that one, giving the Family a charismatic leader named Jeremiah Peale who convinces his followers that only by dying can they hope to escape the coming apocalypse. The most horrific part of all this, at least for me, was that so many children were involved in his scheme, forced into it by their parents and brainwashed to believe that death was the way to salvation. DiLouie’s most emotional scenes were the ones when the bad shit is going down and the kids suddenly realize that they are actually going to die. It would have been heartbreaking enough without children involved, but adding them to the mix made it nearly unbearable.

Overall, I really loved the structure and the author’s decision to use a dual timeline to tell his story. We get to see the effects of childhood trauma and how each survivor has been able to move forward with their lives—or not, in some cases. Beth seems to be the most settled, and has become a successful clinical psychologist. Her personal life is neat and tidy, at least on the outside, but we later learn that Beth is not doing well at all emotionally, and has suppressed her memories of the final night at Red Peak. Over the course of the story, her weaknesses are revealed little by little. David is the only one who is married with children, his family acting as an anchor of sorts and allowing him the semblance of a normal life. David has dealt with his trauma by becoming an “exit counselor,” someone who tries to get cult members to leave their cults before it’s too late. His job is hard and emotional, but it makes him feel like he’s helping others, the sort of help he wasn’t able to get himself.

Then there’s Deacon, who hasn’t really grown up at all. He fronts a rock band called Cats are Sad, which seems to be on the brink of success, but Emily’s suicide changes his focus. Deacon feels compelled to write a concept album with fellow band member Laurie about his experiences in the cult, but the emotions it stirs up make him question everything he’s doing. The fourth surviving member, David’s older sister Angela, decides that the only way to put the past to rest is to revisit Red Peak on the day of the fifteenth anniversary, and the others reluctantly agree to join her. I loved that all four adults are dealing with the aftermath of their experience in different ways, which all seemed on point and believable.

Interspersed among the chapters that take place in the present, DiLouie slowly reveals how these characters came to be part of the Family of the Living Spirit, the idyllic beginnings when the Family lived on a remote farm in central California, growing their own crops and raising livestock for food, the carefree days when the children of the group were free to wander the land and form bonds with each other. The author drops hints about the impending horror to come—hard labor, starvation and even mutilations—but the reader doesn’t get the full story until much later in the book. 

And this might be a good time to throw in a couple of trigger warnings, although you’ve probably already guessed what they are. The “mutilation” teaser obviously comes into play near the end, as well as murder, withholding food and drink (especially upsetting with the children), and forced suicide. DiLouie packs a lot of action and pain into the final chapters of his story, and he even suggests a supernatural reason for the disappearance of all the bodies. But it isn’t until the four survivors make the fateful trek back to Red Peak that we finally get some answers about what happened. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, to be honest. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but it was DiLouie’s trademark emotional gut punch, and even if it was a bit over the top, it certainly made an impact on me. 

I do have one issue that might be fixed in the final book as I write this review, but I want to mention it anyway. Obviously DiLouie wrote his story before Covid, hence the present day setting in 2020. However, I have to admit the "2020" chapters felt awkward to me, knowing that the 2020 I was reading about wasn’t the 2020 we’re all experiencing today. I did read an ARC, however, and it's possible the dates were changed in the final edition. Writing this has made me realize that Covid has forever changed the way we think about 2020 (and probably 2021), and that writers are going to have to decide whether or not to set their books during this time period. I guess that’s a topic for another blog post, but I had to mention it because it did affect my reading experience.

Craig DiLouie’s books always give me plenty to think about, and I’m still mulling over the events of The Children of Red Peak, days after I finished reading it. Readers who aren’t afraid to dive deep into the realities of cults will most likely find this book both fascinating and terrifying.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

The Children of Red Peak is one of those books whose premise offers up a lot of tantalizing potential and demands your attention, but which ultimately fails to fully live up to expectations. Branded as "Heaven's Gate by way of Stephen King's IT" in author Peter Clines's blurb, I was fully expecting Craig DiLouie's latest to captivate and excite me. I mean, CULTS! Religious Terror! Ritualistic human sacrifice and group massacres! Unfortunately, while certain aspects of the story and execution worked me, I found an almost equal number of problems that ultimately left me cold.

Fifteen years ago, the Family of the Living Spirit packed up from their commune and headed into the desert, following the visions of their leader, Father Jeremiah. At the top of Red Peak, they sacrificed themselves, leaving behind only five children. In the present day, one of those former cultists, Emily, has taken her own life, and at her funeral the four remaining friends begin to reconnect and confront the traumas of their past. They begin to realize that if they're ever going to recover from the traumas of their old lives, they have to face their own personal demons -- real or imagined -- head on and return to Red Peak.

As far as set-ups go, DiLouie has a corker here, to be sure. The Living Spirit cult, in order to prove their love for God, subject themselves to self-inflicted mutilations and deprive themselves of food and water while constructing a massive staircase to the top of Red Peak. The emotional tolls and psychic damage that was inflicted upon this small group of surviving children, who we come to know as adults, is enormous, and the things they were forced to observe is absolutely horrific.

Unfortunately, The Children of Red Peak is a slow-burn, and I mean slooooooow. I almost hesitate to even call this book a work of horror, and if it weren't for the occasional and super brief glimpses of an ancient entity, this book would more easily be classified as literary psychological suspense. It deals with horrific elements to be sure, but DiLouie is heavily focused here on the aftermath of those incidents and the ways this group has learned to cope. It's not even until 70% of the way through that DiLouie begins to start revealing the awful memories buried in Beth's mind. Up to that point, we're treated to plodding visits to psychiatrist conferences and emo goth rock concerts where Deacon, the cult survivor turned band leader, plots out a concept album inspired by his childhood.

While the examination of cults and the long-term psychological abuse that is religious extremism (some might argue, not incorrectly, religious belief, period) are supremely fascinating and well researched, it literally takes forever for this book to go anywhere. This small group of survivors talk repeatedly about returning to Red Peak, and then talk about it some more, and then discuss it again, and then think about it for a while, and then think about discussing it again, and then wonder what the others in the group think and whether they should hash it all out once more, and then, holy fucking shit, are they EVER actually going to go there?! Hold on, let's talk about this some more!

Sorry, Peter Clines, but the return to Derry, this is not.

Yes, The Children of Red Peak does have a few sparks of interesting ideas, and yes, it is emotionally impactful. But. There's no real energy to it, and by the time we reach the big climax, the grand reveal, it all feels like such a massive copout that I wondered why I had invested so much of my time in this book when I could have just watched Star Trek V again. Sure, it would have been just as painful and numbing, but it would have been so much quicker...

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.

A terrifying and heartbreaking story about the childhood survivors of a death cult, looking back as adults to come to terms with their experiences and to try to understand what really happened on that final terrible day. A scary, powerful read.

The Children of Red Peak is a horror story of 5 survivors of a cult that committed mass suicide. As adults they are brought back together after the suicide of their friend and are determined to find out what really happened that last night at Red Peak.

I was so excited for this book but sadly it was a let down for me. The best parts for me were the flashbacks to when Deacon, David, Angela, Beth and Emily were younger and in the cult. I felt they were well written and I liked seeing how everything was processed through a child's mind. I also enjoyed the world Craig DiLouie created at the farm before they transitioned to Red Peak. It was easy to see how the group joined the Family and followed Jeremiah.

It took me quite a while to get into the book. I felt the story dragged at some parts. Especially with Deacon's musical process and it didn't add anything to the story in my opinion. The dialogue also seemed forced and unnatural.

I really wanted to love this book but for me it was only okay. I would give it 2.5/5 stars

Thank you Craig DiLouie, NetGalley, and Redhook Books for the opportunity to read this book!

The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie is a horror novel mixed with religious cultism. Beth, David, and Deacon are reunited at a funeral for their friend Emily. However, the reason for their friendship remains secretive. They are the survivors of a religious cult when they were children. They all suffer from PTSD and memories that have yet to fully be uncovered. At their reunion, they begin to reveal what they do know. And what they know is that they need to go back to Red Peak to get answers.

This book had me at horror and cult. I thought it would be more of the psychological effects that the cult had on the survivors. It wasn’t. It is more about the characters taking a really long time to decide to go back to Red Peak and then with a supernatural twist at the end. The book ultimately follows two timelines, the past, and the present. I found the past way more fascinating as it showed the days in the cult and how it ultimately devolves. It is horrific. There are moments of mutilation that are pretty descriptive. However, the present storyline added absolutely nothing to the story. It dragged on and on.

Then it all came to a point where the author made it seem like cults aren’t that bad. It was bizarre. Then that ending. Ugh. Instead of answers, they get a supernatural twist that just left me like…that’s it? So unfortunately this book was not a win for me. It also may not have been the greatest choice of a read during the 2020 election. I rate this book 2 out of 5 stars.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, it releases November 17th.

The Children of Red Peak are the only survivors of the religious cult that disappeared 15 years ago. David, Deacon, Beth and Angela survived a childhood that started in a lush farm, surrounded by love, but ended in the desert, covered in blood - but no bodies. What happened at Red Peak?

This is a story about PTSD, survivors guilt and trauma. This is also the story of a cult. This is ALSO the story of broken people, looking for answers. All the 'children' have grown up and reunite at a funeral. They struggle with the reconnection with each other and the reminders of their former life. They also struggle with the missing memories and pieces of what happened.

Craig DiLouie had me from page 1 of this books. Cults terrify and excite me and this was an engrossing take. It's about beginnings and endings and everlasting love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A group of adults shares the same dark secret. When they were children, they grew up at the foot of a mountain called Red Peak. Isolated from the rest of the world, the children lived through the traumatic experience of life in a cult. Years later, a fellow survivor and friend, takes their own life. The grownup children of Red Peak reunite and re-open old wounds.

What really happened on that last night at Red Peak? Our protagonists, the survivors, must bring to the surface all the painful memories they buried and maybe even take a trip back to where it all happened.

This story follows two timelines, the present-day narrative and the one back at Red Peak. I actually love books with a lot of flashbacks. Sometimes I find that the story in the past is more intriguing than the one in the present, and such is the case here. But this might be because I love young adult or child protagonists and coming-of-age drama. It also might be because I didn’t much care for the adult characters; they were way more interesting as children. Not to mention, I love cult horror and all the scenes at Red Peak were just so damn compelling.

DiLouie did an excellent job building the inner workings of the cult practices and beliefs. In order for me to buy into a story where cult followers are willing to exhibit some really strange behaviors, I have to believe the psychology and spirituality of the cult/cult leader. It takes a little bit of time for Craig DiLouie to set this up, but once one of the characters does some hypnotherapy to unlock repressed memories, the cult storyline ramps up, and I was able to fully invest in this character-driven thriller/mystery.

Perhaps my only complaint would be that the first half of the story is so drastically different than the last half of the book in terms of pacing. I think some readers might tap out before all the amazing twists and turns play out. Perhaps I can use this review to urge readers to just allow DiLouie to stretch and grow his characters and push them towards the self-actualization and discovery they need in order for the story to progress. Also, take note of the chapter headings — this book reads like a very well-designed journey towards closure and healing, so it’s important for readers to be compliant in the process because, near the end, it was truly a cathartic experience.

DiLouie brings something totally original to the cult-horror trope that I don’t think existed before. I’m a believer.

Five young people survived a horrific day in the middle of nowhere as their parents and the adults around them died in a large religious ritual. One of the five has committed suicide and as the remaining gather and as the fifteen anniversary is upon them, they reenter each other's lives and they decide they must confront the past in order to all possibly heal and move forward.

Harkening back to my college days where I minored in Religious Studies, I have always had an interest in the study of religions and religious groups and how they form, how the leader emerges and how the followers find their leader and choose to follow. Through the flashbacks in this book, I appreciated watching this group form and morph and change as their leader kept receiving "callings."

Without spoiling too many things, I will agree with the reviews I read after I finished and say that I am very disappointed by the ending. I didn't want a complete resolution, but I wanted more than the author gave. I reread a few parts to make sure it wasn't me reading lazy and I just felt as though there was something missing to make the ending feel a bit more like a conclusion.

After finishing the book, I went and looked into the author and am intrigued to see if something from his backlist could intrigue me to read more by him. Have you read anything by him? Where should I go from here?

In The Children of Red Peak, the survivors of a doomsday cult reunite to try and come to terms with the trauma they experienced as children of the cult.  While touted as a horror novel, I felt it read as general fiction for most of the narrative, and the horror elements did not appear until closer to the end of the novel.  

The narrative was told from three characters’ points of view and featured alternating timelines which sometimes overlapped and often left me a bit confused. The pace was slower than I expected, and the writing frequently diverted into elaborate descriptions to the point that I found myself skimming passages and sometimes pages to return to the plot.  

I wish I could provide a more positive review.  I’m sure there are plenty of readers that will genuinely enjoy this book. For me, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.  I’d like to thank NetGalley and Red Hook Books for a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After a reunion of sorts at one of the survivor’s funeral, the last four people left alive in a cult’s aftermath ponder the 15-year anniversary. All have been dealing with the post-traumatic stress of their experiences in direct ways. Deacon is developing a concept album with his punk band. Beth is a psychologist who is as much trying to heal herself as heal her clients. Andrea is a policewoman who at time uses the job to release her pent up frustrations. And David is an exit counselor reasoning with cultists to return to their homes and families.

Told in three periods, The Children of Red Peak is a book that I struggled with because of its awkward pacing and lack of focus at times. The novel jumps from the high time of the cult, a time of religious fervor at the beginning of their great experiment in the early 2000s. And then a couple years later when an awakening has occurred and the preacher, Jeremiah Peale, sees an opportunity for spiritual bliss in mass suicide. Thus the mystery: after the deaths of the dozens and dozens of cult members, there are no remains to be found… where did they go? And in 2020 when the last remaining members of the Family of the Living Spirit share their lasting trauma, conflicts, and in some places pent up passion.

This is my third DiLouie novel (One of Us and Our War) and this book was in stark contrast to those two. I found this book to be more of a series of character studies and not the driving horror mystery I expected to find. Granted these are interesting characters who draw you in with their internal strife, but I wanted more from this on in regards to plot… (minor spoiler) and the promise of ‘supernatural’ elements came way to late for it to really be a factor. Or there was some indication of this theme in the beginning but it never hit hard enough to make a real impact on the overall atmosphere of the novel.

I’m trying to make this as balanced a review as possible. And I know that there is an audience for this type of slow-burn cult novel. DiLouie will still be a starred writer for me.

3 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit/Redhook books and the author for an advanced copy for review.