This book follows two timelines, one starting in the late 1980s and the other in the present. We see what started off as a happily self-sufficient small farming community morph over time into a weird cult under the powerful leadership of 'Uncle Saviour' and his niece called Love. This alternates with the tale of two young children (Hannah, 10 and Greg, 7) who go missing in the middle of the night in the present time, and the parents' and police efforts to find them.

The cult itself was quite fascinating and became very scary, totally dominating the lives of the followers. The characterisation was very good, some creepy people and quite a few with mental health issues (not just in the cult...) The story is very dark and involves blood, child abduction, suicide, a few murders and some ruthless and manipulative behaviour.

I did feel that some of the threads in the story were not wound up sufficiently; presumably these were there just as red herrings but they were never adequately explained. The plot was a bit of a slow burner but definitely ratched up the tension with lots of action as things panned out towards the end. Overall 4 stars from me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

A nerve-wracking, intense storyline.

The novel starts with Love, the daughter of David and Joyce (Charity). Her name had been Zoe and her sister, now Peace was Clare – until Uncle Saviour announced that all his followers would give up their given names and accept the names, he’s chosen for them. The following of Uncle Saviour had started as a trickle and now more and more people were moving to the farm to take up residence and work towards eternal illumination and life.

DI Pearline Ottoline receives a call summoning her to a remote village when the body of a man is found. He’s been badly beaten, and the perpetrator of the attack is known to the police. However, he’s missing – only to be discovered at the edge of a forest with his head sliced open. They also discover that two very young children have gone missing – it soon becomes apparent that they might have witnessed the man being attacked but if they got away from the perpetrator, who has kidnapped them?

What a terrifying look at a cult! We follow the story through Love as she grows up and her devotion to Uncle Saviour. Her mother and sister’s realisation that this man is a charlatan and their attempt to make other members of the cult realise their false hope in the man.

Abby Davies has certainly captured in vivid and brilliant language and excellent character portrayal this terrifying novel in detail. There’s everything in this novel, children kidnapped, police procedures and how some charismatic characters seem to have the ability to fool those around them.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Took a while to really get into this book but I'm glad I perservered. Great plot and it was very well worked. Really enjoyed it.

When two children disappear, a case is launched… The Cult sounded right up my street and I couldn’t wait to start. I loved the two different timelines and multiple points of view: it was full of twists and turns as you tried to figure out how the two timelines linked together. It was gripping and tense, but just a tad too dark to give 5 stars!

Where do I even start with this book. This book is so messed up and sick but it's so brilliant. I couldn't put it down.

I find anything relating to cults fascinating, their beliefs and how clouded their judgements are and this book relayed that so well.

It is split into three parts, each part building on the last. The final part was the one I flew through, it really did pack a punch.

There were so many moments throughout this book that literally took my breath away in shock and that is something that doesn't happen very often.

It is an absolute must read and a well deserved ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

The cult by Abby Davies

I felt a bit short-changed by this book.
Maybe I expected too much, but sadly, this book didn’t deliver half of what I hoped for.
The Cult follows the ‘Then & Now’/multiple viewpoint style (of which a huge amount of my recent reads seemed to follow).
The book starts from the viewpoint of Love, a teenage member of ‘The Eternal Life’ community/cult.
And immediately, my expectations are very quickly cut down to size.
I wanted more information about this Cult but it all seemed very obvious and by the numbers. I couldn’t help thinking of that episode of The Simpsons where the family join a Cult and are made to chant ‘Leader’ over and over.
The ‘Now’ parts of the story follow the disappearance of two children; the reactions of their frantic mother; and the female DCI in charge of the case to find them.
I didn’t find either of the ‘Then’ or ‘Now’ parts of the book particularly gripping. Neither the storylines or the characters seemed fully fleshed out. The two different stories seemed to have absolutely no correlation to each other. Although you know that somewhere in the book, things were going to tie together.
And when they did, it was all a bit weak.
A readable book, but maybe just not for me.

* thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the ARC

An intriguing story that twists and turns,changing between the current day unfolding drama and how a seemingly well thought out, supportative community takes a disturbing dark path.

Hooking you in to the very end, this is an individual story.

I was given a copy of The Cult by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Cults really fascinate me so I couldn’t wait to get into reading the newest book by Abby.
Personally I found it really difficult to keep abreast of who was who during the Love chapters with the names but enjoyed the overall storyline and the prose was engaging.

I really enjoyed the premise this book and the cult aspect was something I’ve never come across before.

Snappy chapters made this very readable however it was lacking in character development in some places.

An enjoyable read non the less!

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author Abby Davies.
This was a quite a gripping thriller, but unfortunately it was just too ridiculous at times to be fully enjoyable. You had to suspend disbelief to an outrageous level, and I found myself rolling my eyes just a few too many times. The hyperbole and exaggeration was dialled just a little too high.
The format was engaging, however, and I enjoyed the way it jumped between perspectives and timeframes.

Firstly I absolutely ADORED Abby Davies' first book Mother Loves Me so when I saw she had a new book coming out and it featured cults, I was instantly excited and eager to download it.

Told over two timelines, The Cult is about a cult (funnily enough) set in the English Countryside in the 1990's where Uncle Saviour leads a small group of people, including his sister and her daughters, in what is meant to be a calm and loving environment, where everybody helps everybody and peace is their ultimate goal, until Uncle Saviour decides immortality is their ultimate goal and the cult takes on a sinister and dark persona.

In the other timeline, based in the present, two young children sneak out of their home in the middle of the night and witness a violent attack. Running into the woods, they disappear without a trace.

Enter DI Pearline Ottoline (yup me neither!), who is tasked with finding the children, solving a couple of grisly murders and simultaneously deal with her own internal ghosts.

It was at this point that unfortunately the book stopped working for me. Not only was the DI's name a complete turn-off, but I am getting bored of police men/woman who are haunted by their unsolved crimes or struggling with their personal demons.

If the book was purely about Uncle Saviour, Love, Hope and the rest of the brainwashed group of oddballs, it probably would have been far more interesting and I probably would have enjoyed it more.

I think the author needs to drop the crime/police procedural storylines and get back to the dark, psychological thrillers like Mother Loves Me.

The story begins in the late 80s, where we meet Love as a young child, living with her family on the Eternal Life farm in the middle of the countryside. Under the leadership of Uncle Saviour, we see life on the farm change and develop over time. New families join and the focus on living forever begins to take some very sinister turns. Whilst not everyone is too happy about this, Love remains convinced that Uncle Saviour is a hero and can do no wrong.

We then have a modern day timeline where we meet Lily, whose two young children Greg and Hannah have gone missing in the middle of the night. Whilst detective Ottoline has a personal mission to make sure the children are brought home as soon as possible, Lily can’t just sit and wait for that to happen and gets into the thick of the search herself.

What a twisty, scary and gripping story this was! It was so hard to put down – I just had to find out what had happened to the children, what was going to happen next on Uncle Saviour’s farm, and how everything could be linked together. It is very fast-paced, creepy and enjoyable! I’m looking forward to whatever Abby Davies writes next!

I wasn't sure what to expect with this but from the first page I was hooked. I really liked the different POVs and just as one was getting to a climax, it switches to another which was both frustrating and genius. A great story.

This was an excellent read with its dark twists and turns. I have never read anything quite like it, the characters were so well described I could visualise them and I was transported to many a dark scene. Absolute page turner, most enjoyable.

Ive just spent about a week with Love, Lilly and Pearline. Love grew up in a cult, a commune led by Uncle Saviour. Love is enraptured by Uncle Saviour. Lilly's marriage is failing, her life is spiralling out of control and she feels like an inadequate parent. Lilly's children have left the family home in the early hours of the morning and are missing. Pearline is the detective on the case of the missing Children. Pearline has her own monster and demons from the past to keep under control...where are the Children? Is there a connection to Uncle Saviour?...
A brilliant, well executed tale. A well written story with well defined characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy!

OK so Mother Loves Me is my favourite read this year so far, so as soon as I saw this I knew I would have to read it!!
I was scared though as it had alot to live up to after Mother Loves Me!
But wow what a book!!! Creepy, addictive and hairs-on-end chilling, it was everything I had hoped for!

I liked the story told from different POV and timelines, kept it on edge and also saw into the mind of Love and The Cult and also Lily and her fight to find her children.
The way Abby makes you literally feel emotions in her books is scary, as a lover of thrillers you expect nothing to shock you but Abbys books have a way of making you gasp out loud!

Another brilliant read, would definitely recommend to any thriller fans and especially if you enjoyed Mother Loves Me!
Loved The Cult but hasn't managed to knock Mother Loves Me from the top spot though!

Told from multiple POV's and two time lines, this is the story of growing up in The Eternal Life Community and a mother's search for her two missing children. For me this story really grabbed me when DI Pearline Ottoline same into it and of the two storylines I preferred Lily's. Vampires aren't my thing though they are well written but just not for me. That aside, I really enjoyed the book, so much so that I was up until after midnight finishing it last night. A solid 4 stars from me, would have been 4 and a half if the facility was there.

This book is brilliant! I can say nothing negative about this one!! Absolutely brilliant from beginning to end.

5☆ What a Page Turner.... Tense, Creepy, Gritty and Engrossing.


Oh wow what a read The Cult turned out to be! Twisty, Gripping, Tense, Creepy and very addictive!
Definitely A Top Read for Me this Year!

This Twisty psychological thriller had a sprinkle of everything, missing children, dead bodies, a Creepy and Twisted Cult and A strong Detective team.
I loved how the story weaved from past to present, giving the reader little snippets but not revealing too much.

What I enjoyed most was discovering all about The Cult...Eternal Life Community and the very Creepy and Manipulative Uncle Saviour. I don't necessarily know too much about Cults but this one was as twisted as I would of imagined. I'll let you read it for yourselves to discover more!

The twists were perfectly plotted, the characters very well written, the atmosphere was tense and suspenseful nearly all the way through, just how I like my Thrillers.
So if you love Gripping Thrillers as much as I do, then Definitely grab a copy of The Cult you won't be disappointed!

Thank you to InstaBook Tours and Harper Fiction for my copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Two children go missing in the middle of the night, DI Ottoline is put in charge of the case . Told across two timelines you follow the modern day case as well as that of a hidden community thirty years ago. You’re not sure how the stories are linked but gradually all the threads are pulled together.
The story of the cult kept me more engaged than the missing children and I would of been happy to read just about the cult. Gradually the missing children case and how it linked to the cult drew me in. The characters were great as was the description of how a cult works attracting members. It lead to a good conclusion.
I would pick up a book by this author again.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.