The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie

Out now from Red Hook Books

CW: Suicide

For fans of: 80s Stephen King, Joe Hill, Nick Cutter, and True Crime

We all know about Jonestown and Heavens Gate and Children of God. Cults that brainwashed vulnerable people with claims of End Times, all to the benefit of their leaders. But what if their charismatic, sociopathic leaders had been right? This is the question at the heart of Craig DiLouie’s 2020 release, The Children of Red Peak.

The story begins with a group of adults—Deacon the Rockstar, Beth the Psychologist, David the cult deprogrammer, and Angela, David’s older sister and police officer—reuniting for the funeral of their 5th group member, Emily, who killed herself, a result of the trauma they all experienced as adolescents living in the cult, the Family. One-by-one, these adults who survived an apocalyptic death cult realize that they have unfinished business at the site of their families’ mass-suicide. If you’re getting serious IT vibes, I did too. Similarly to IT, the narrative jumps from the present to when the group were in their early teens. The style, tone, and pacing of DiLouie’s writing really feels like early King. 

The greatest strengths of The Children of Red Peak lie in the character development and the research. The characters were so well flushed-out, I feel like I could write a short story from any of their perspectives. DiLouie clearly did his homework when writing this story. As a True Crime nerd, the Family followed the very real and very common patterns that real life cults follow. DiLouie also treated trauma seriously and respectfully. He doesn’t use his characters’ trauma to have them doing reckless things just for the sake of moving the plot along. The characters each deal with trauma in very different ways, and this realism is not only respectful, but also helps ground and immerse the reader in the story. 

If there are any pitfalls of The Children of Red Peak, again, I’ll compare DiLouie to King, in that I felt like the novel could have been shorter, and some scenes felt like padding. Though, it could be argued, these scenes serve to bond the reader with the characters more deeply.

Purchase here.

Rating: 3.5 Flavor Aids out of 5

Reviewer details – Ian A. Bain

@bainwrites on Twitter

I received a paperback copy from the publisher for review consideration