Revelation

November 1, 2016
This is a sledgehammer of a novel, slamming away at the foundations of modern cult religions until nothing is left but rubble to be carted away. There's no revelation, says one of the evil people. It's all power of suggestion. A group of friends at a tony eastern university is centered around a charismatic youth named Wiley, nicknamed Coyote after the animal in the Road Runner cartoons. His story is told by a writer wannabe named Harden, whose loyalty is rewarded by being tossed into a dank cell and commanded to write a worshipful account of Coyote's ascendancy. His narrative is the bulk of the novel, intercut with chapters detailing Harden's attempts to flee the hellhole. It's a powerful story, perhaps too much so, with page after page of unrelieved grimness. Suspense is here, and live-wire action, just as one expects from a thriller, but readers might find the torture scenes too sadistic, and the overall mood too glum, to live in for nearly 400 pages. An intense experience for those who can take it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from October 3, 2016
Harden Campbell, the hero of Wilson’s enthralling thriller, awakens in pitch darkness lying on a dirt floor, unaware of how he got there. Feeling his way around, he bumps into a dead body. Then a light suddenly goes on, and he sees that he’s in a locked room with the body of Derek, a friend with whom he recently celebrated his 21st birthday. Derek’s throat is cut. Harden also sees a table with a typewriter; on top of a stack of paper is a sheet with the message: “Tell me a story.” Harden suspects that his psychopathic college roommate, Wiley “Coyote” Martin, is responsible for his captivity, angry that Harden was cooperating with the FBI to obtain information for the agency on Coyote’s shady activities. Harden types out a mesmerizing tale describing how Coyote took inspiration from a short story that Harden wrote for a class to create and build an extremist religion, which Coyote uses for nefarious purposes, including ruining the lives of innocent people. Wilson (The Comfort of Black) infuses his terrifying plot with intricate twists and turns, all totally credible. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency.