It’s hard not to have some religious trauma if you grew up in the evangelical church like I did, and this book exemplifies the real human horrors that occur when people use religion to shield and justify their horrific actions. This is a book that I couldn’t look away from, terrifying, heartbreaking, but so raw and real. It’s short but brutal and fantastic. I highly recommend this one for any readers looking for some very human horrors.

This is a bloody religious horror novel set in a small town where competing factors wage a war for control of the church.

A gay pastor takes his first leadership role in a small town church in Georgia. He and his husband along with their young son see it as an opportunity to heal and unify the residents after the death of the former pastor..

But there are others who see this as a sin against God and a sin against themselves and all they hold sacred. And they're not above using extreme measures, in the name of God, to rid their town of the evil they believe is homosexuality.

From the brutal first chapter we know that this will not end well and this book has a spark of tension throughout which builds in waves until the horrific climax.

This novel sets two religious factions against each other. One clearly serves the God of the old testament, full of fury and fire. The man leading this side is formed of antiquated ideas and resists any progressive changes. But the sheriff is on his side allowing for violence and bloodshed to run freely.

The ending is a chaotic, brutal, gore filled event. It does end rather abruptly though. It felt jarring. But I still loved the story and definitely felt that it amplified events which are readily apparent in todays society but with more blood and gore! I highly recommend this if you want a good religious horror story between good and evil.

This was ok. The culmination in the crucifixion was really powerful and unexpected, but that’s really the only interesting part of this. The characters weren’t well developed, key things weren’t explained, and a lot of time was wasted in useless flashbacks that could have made the contemporary scenes relevant and interesting.