An insular Alaskan island town, missing girls, a murdered therapist, a decades-old cult and kidnap survivor with memory and mental issues. There's a lot going on in a complex story. The writing, for the most part, is very solid, the plot full of twists and surprises....well, twists. I wasn't really that surprised by most of them, except for where the climactic scene ultimately went. I was mostly enjoying the book, but by about the 40% mark I found myself getting bored. Then things picked up again, but by the 80% mark I was bored again. While it's a reasonably fleshed out and interesting plot, the book is just dragged out too long. By the midpoint all the hallucinations and flash backs and psychological issues with Valorie just became tedious. The last third of the book I just couldn't wait for it to finally explain what happened and where it was leading, but it felt like it was taking forever. I think if about 20% or so were shaved off this would have made for a tighter, better story, though the ending still felt like it came out of nowhere. I liked the book, but it needed serious editing down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! Honestly such an incredible mysterious thriller. I could NOT put it down and it’s stayed with me for days. Devoured it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an e-ARC.
The Red Knot is a mystery/small-town horror which follows detective Audra who is swept up in the murder of her best friend and the disappearance of her friend’s daughter, all while dealing with the impacts of previous cases.
This book is quite fast-paced and is a roller coaster in a good way.
Detective mysteries/horrors aren’t generally my go to reads, but this book was engaging and chilling enough to keep me invested.

Take one part evil cult, one part trauma, and another part in a dissociative state, and you’ve got The Red Knot. Add in some supernatural explanations, and this book is definitely a good one for horror fans. Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Atmospheric and dark, this story gripped me from the first page! It was a wonderfully twisty book with some supernatural elements and a slow burn at the start.

Well this was trippy. When you are reading a book that involves a cult, you know its going to get dark. This is my first book by the author and it will not be the last. This is a slow burn horror set on a remote island off the Alaskan coast. We follow two characters: Audra and Valorie. Audra is the lead detective trying to solve the murder of her good friend and missing girls on the island. Valorie is the daughter of a cult leader who may know more about the murder and disappearances than she thinks she does. Valorie was a fascinating character to read. Due to past trauma, she has multiple personalities so following her as she tries to discover the truth within herself kept me turning the pages.

I thought the story was going to go a certain way but I could have never predicted what actually happened. This is not your standard horror/thriller and I encourage everyone to please look up trigger warnings before proceeding.

I'm obsessed with The Red Knot! This Alaskan island mystery is dark, gripping, and full of twists that kept me up all night. The atmospheric setting is perfection, and Audra's investigation into small-town secrets and cult undertones is suspenseful and thrilling. The characters are flawed and relatable, making it easy to get invested in their stories.

The pacing is impeccable, and the plot twists are expertly woven. I devoured this book in one sitting, eager to uncover the truth alongside Audra. If you love thrillers and mysteries, you'll love The Red Knot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy – I'm so glad I got to read this!

This book has such a creative and interesting premise. It is a fun combination of suspense with a dash of the supernatural. I enjoyed the diversity of the characters and their flaws. I also loved the unreliable witness and the cages of identity she constructed to deal with unbelievable horror she experienced. The islanders each had their own distinguishing characteristics to identify who was who in the zoo. The small town vibe of the island felt believable. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Asher's Don't Eat the Pie, so this has been one of my most anticipated 2025 reads. It did not disappoint. A twisty story with cults, an isolated island, missing girls, and murder. The Red Knot puts a unique spin on this blend of tropes with characters that feel real and writing that keeps the pages turning!

The Red Knot (out 26/08/25) had a bit of a slow burn, but I stayed interested. I liked the small-town setting with the host of secretive characters. Understandably with the cult theme it does get quite dark at times, trigger warnings may need to be checked. I also saw a few twists coming, but this didn’t stop me from enjoying the story overall.

If you are looking for something dark to read, then this is it.

This thriller/crime is set in Alaska (the location already gives it that cold, ominous town vibe). A woman is murdered, and three others go missing. Audra is a detective who starts to investigate the case which happens to be very personal. We also meet Valorie who ends up being a suspect in this storyline and she happens to have D.I.D and the daughter of a cult leader in this town. The story becomes quite interesting, intriguing, and shifty. I think the character building was written fairly well. The whole D.I.D thing kind of set me up for one thing, in the beginning, and I liked that it's not what you expect. It's different from other thrillers, which is why I appreciate it. It is fast-paced, which is another reason why I liked the book. If you're someone who has triggers or mental trauma, you might want to look into the trigger warnings before reading any further. The book does go into trauma that may not be suitable for some. It's definitely dark and I would definitely read it all over again.

The Red Knot by Monique Asher is a horror novel in the vein Lovecraft with a cult hell bent on keeping its evil alive.

On an island off the coast of Alaska three girls have gone missing with a connection to a disturbed woman whose murky past involving the disappearances unleashes a torrent of evil on the island. A monster, red string, and grisly murders force Audra, a police investigator to explore the dark history of the island and its insidious cult.

The Red Knot was an unsettling horror novel with bloody and grotesque crimes that examined trauma and cults and the evil that lives inside of human beings. For me, it got a little too dark and heavy, although I did appreciate the trigger warnings provided at the beginning of the book. The horror reminded me a little of HP Lovecraft which I didn't mind. There were enough twists and turns to keep me interested in what was happening, and I liked the unreliable character Valerie, whose internal struggles mirrored the supernatural occurrences on the island.

If you are a fan of horror stories with dark mythic themes, check out The Red Knot by Monique Asher.

Missing girls, small-town horror, cults, isolated island off the coast of Alaska?!? This book encompassed so many of my favorite tropes! It was fast paced, it gave me anxiety, and I couldn't put it down! It was such a dark read that I had to give myself a few breaths before going on. For an author to elicit that emotion from me is rare!!! Valerie is the daughter of a cult leader, and she has dissociative identity disorder from the trauma she has endured while a part of the cult. Time is running out for the three girls who are missing. When I say this has been one of the best books I have read this year, I am not kidding!

3.75/5 stars rounded up.

This was such an ominous and dark read! Set on an Alaskan island, a woman is found murdered, and other girls have gone missing. It becomes a race for Detective Audra to try to find out what happened to the murdered island therapist and to save the missing girls. She soon discovers that these present-day crimes might be connected to some gruesome past murders.

Audra starts looking into Valorie, who suffers from memory loss and is also the daughter of the town's infamous cult leader. As Audra dives into her investigation, she starts to uncover dark secrets and doesn't know who she can trust.

The book maintains an eerie, dark tone throughout the whole story. I really enjoyed the writing in this and the character development. One character in particular is incredibly fascinating. Valorie, at the beginning of the book, is immediately revealed to suffer from multiple personality disorder (clinically known as dissociative identity disorder). Her mind has split from her childhood traumas and has caused her memory to have chunks missing. Valorie will occasionally wake up without any recollection of past days. All she has is a deep feeling of dread that something awful has happened in her absence. I've read only a handful of books about DID but never fail to be amazed by them.

The crimes within this book are disturbing and gruesome. There is some sensitive content within this book dealing with rape, but it wasn't overly detailed. Sometimes authors will place too much emphasis on these scenes and describing the actual act to the point where it feels like a fantasy. I didn't think that was the case here. While still uncomfortable, it didn't feel drawn out. The mystery and sleuthing in this book was attention-grabbing. I loved seeing the investigation unfold and all of the pieces start to come together.

Most of the book was gripping: the story, the mystery, the characters. But I also felt as though it dragged on at certain points. I lost a bit of steam about midway through the book, where I felt like not much progress was being made, but the feeling didn't last too long, and it quickly picked back up. This was mostly what knocked my rating down.

I struggled a bit with the shifting perspectives as well. The story unfolds under the POV of Audra (lead detective) and Valorie. But Valorie, we also would follow under her split personalities. The story would also jump between present day and the past. While it did work and it did add to the story, it didn't always feel as seamless to me as I think it could've.

As someone who is generally incredibly intrigued by DID and cults, this book was a fun ride. There were parts that were a bit predictable and others that weren't. There were some revenge scenes towards the end which felt incredibly gratifying to read. Definitely worth the read, but be sure to check the content warnings before picking this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis, Injury/Injury detail.

Thank you Netgalley and Rising Action for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“The Red Knot” by Asher Monique is a chilling, unflinching dive into the rot beneath the surface of a small, isolated Alaskan town—one that blends cult horror, psychological suspense, and cosmic dread into a haunting thriller you won’t be able to put down. I definitely recommend looking into content warnings for this book before you die is as there is a lot of blood and gore, which some readers may not be comfortable with reading.

The story centers on Valorie Clemens, daughter of a long-dead cult leader whose shadow still looms over the town of Typhon. When her therapist is found murdered and Valorie is discovered bloodied and disoriented in the woods, she becomes the prime suspect. But Typhon is not the kind of place where things are ever that simple. As the investigation spirals, long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface—and it’s clear that someone will do anything to keep them hidden.

The story thrives on tension, slowly layering horror upon horror. Monique conjures the perfect storm of ingredients: missing girls, a suspicious local elite, a storm-wracked town cut off from the outside world, and a community that’s bound together not by trust, but by shared silence and fear. Monique’s use of dual unreliable perspectives adds to the disorientation and intrigue. Valorie's struggle with dissociative identity disorder is woven deeply into the story; though I personally don’t know much about DID, the condition is explored in a way that heightens the psychological complexity of the mystery.

What makes “The Red Knot” especially compelling is its refusal to stick to genre expectations. Just when you think you're reading a standard small-town murder thriller, Monique pushes the story into something darker and stranger, edging into cosmic horror as the nature of “the monster” becomes less about what’s out there and more about what’s inside—inside people, inside memories, inside the town itself.

And yes, it’s absolutely twisty. “The Red Knot” thrives on atmosphere, trauma, and the slow unraveling of reality. The final reveal is shocking, but Monique seeds the story with enough eerie foreshadowing that it lands with jaw-dropping clarity. Characters like Audra add emotional depth, especially in the wake of her best friend’s death, reminding us that in a town this insular, loss is never just personal—it’s communal, and often contagious. The entire cast feels flawed, raw, and painfully human, adding weight to every decision and betrayal.

Overall, “The Red Knot” is a gorgeously written nightmare—a razor-sharp, emotionally complex thriller that will make your heart pound and your skin crawl. It’s fast, it’s shocking, and it’s got something to say about generational trauma, secrecy, and survival. This one isn’t just a story you read—it’s one you feel in your bones. Highly recommended for fans of horror thrillers, unreliable narrators, cult mysteries, and books that make you question everything.

This book was an absolute rollercoaster! Asher masterfully dropped clues all along the way, keeping every character and move shrouded in mystery. I found myself questioning everyone’s intentions, never knowing who was playing their own game and who was actually trustworthy. The suspense was constant, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat.

I’ll definitely be diving into more of Asher’s work after this. If you love unpredictable stories full of tension and surprises, this one’s for you!

I loved this book! Set against the haunting, atmospheric backdrop of a remote Alaskan island, The Red Knot had me hooked by page three and completely consumed into the early hours of the morning. I'm already drawn to stories set in Alaska—between books and reality shows, it’s a setting I can’t get enough of—and this one delivered everything I hoped for and more.

The story is layered, suspenseful, and filled with twists that kept me guessing. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the plot twisted again—masterfully. The blend of small-town secrets, cult undertones, and occult mystery created an eerie, edge-of-your-seat read. Audra is a strong lead, and the psychological unraveling of Valorie added so much emotional depth and darkness.

If you love chilling mysteries with a slow-burning build, unforgettable setting, and deeply buried secrets, this one is a must-read. Dark, gripping, and totally unputdownable.

An engrossing, fast-paced thriller about the secrets and darkness hidden in an isolated, small Alaskan town–one which goes far beyond your typical cult thriller, embracing elements of cosmic horror to explore the concept of the monsters within.

Valorie Clemens is the daughter of a notorious cult leader–a stain on the island's history. When her therapist, Allie, is found murdered, Valorie–who is found roaming the woods, bloodied–immediately becomes the prime suspect. In the course of speaking with Allie, Valorie may be stirring up old memories–ones which someone would rather keep hidden.

I've read enough small-town thrillers to immediately guess that the men who run this town were up to no good (duh) but I was not prepared for the other revelations. One of the other reviews said, "trust no one," but trust me–you're not going to be able to predict where this one goes. While the plot twist is "unbelievable", several foreshadowed moments become so much clearer in light of the reveal.

I'm no expert on disassociative identity disorder, so I can't speak to the accuracy or sensitivity of its portrayal–but I did find Valorie's experience and her alters compelling from a literary and plot perspective.

Overall, an engaging page-turner with plenty of surprises that manages to bring fresh elements to what might otherwise have been a typical small-town thriller.

3.5: The Red Knot

Audra is a detective living on a tiny island off the Alaskan coast. The community is fairly tight-nit; everyone knows everything about everyone. But the island's history is not-so-idyllic; girls keep disappearing, and a cult seems to be at the bottom of everything.

Monique Asher's book "Don't Eat the Pie" was one of my top fav reads from 2024, so when I was given the chance to read an ARC for The Red Knot I was literally giddddddddyyyyy. Unfortunately for me, the vibe of this book is much darker and different than her last book. This one is a bit of a blend between thriller/mystery and psychological horror, and the tone overall is much heavier.

The writing is solid, and I legit felt deep emotions for the characters. But for ME the subject content was just rough to read, and I found myself avoiding reading it at night before bed because it did make me feel icky. (Which, again, is a statement to Asher's incredible writing talents - more often than not I can deal with darker content, but dude this felt really real and heavy.)

BUT I GOTTA SAY THIS: the twist at the end was freaking PERFECTION. *chef kiss*

If you are a fan of cults, suspense/thrillers, horror, and can handle the content warnings ... give this a go. For reference, the style reminded me a bit of Noelle Ihli's later books.

CW: (Murder, rape, gore, body horror, mental health (dissociative identity disorder), cheating, kidnapping)

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All views expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Monique Asher and Rising Action publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

This was a roller coaster of a book. So many twists and surprises. I was heavily invested and didn’t want to stop reading. I was sure the ending was going to be a killer but unfortunately it became too unrealistic. The rest of the book was great, great plot, so many characters (it was actually hard to keep up with the vast amount of characters in the book). I wish the author had gone with a more realistic ending which would have become a 5 star read.

3⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publishes Aug 26