The Dear Ones

'So good that I'm almost tongue-tied' STEPHEN KING

'Megan Abbott is a phenomenal storyteller' CHRIS WHITAKER

When two teenage girls disappear overnight, a small town's close-knit community begins to crack . . .

For two years and two months, death has haunted the town of Garland. A string of brutal crimes and strange accidents has left the community dazed with grief and rage, convinced a curse has descended upon them. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, two teenage girls disappear.

Field hockey stars Misty Meighan and Shauna Brewster would never miss the season's biggest game, and as panic grips the town, Garland's close-knit community begins to crack, exposing a web of secrets, shame, and violence hiding in plain sight.

The remaining Garland Devils decide to take the search into their own hands, but will they be able to find their friends before it's too late?

The Dear Ones, is a gripping, satisfying, multi-threaded thriller about obsession, desire, and power, and is Megan Abbott's most propulsive, page-turner yet.

'I loved this story, and I haven't even touched the surface of how much it got to me. The Crimson Devils motto pretty well sums it up: TONIGHT THEY PRAY, TOMORROW WE SLAY. It sure slayed me' STEPHEN KING

'A modern master' WASHINGTON POST

'Abbott's writing has always been hypnotic, projecting a powerful sense of women's inner lives and desires through the prisms of noir and suspense' IRISH TIMES