8 Enthralling Mystery & Thriller Books About Cults

Since 1882, the Eides have been cattle ranchers in Montana. Now, just days after they make the big decision to sell their property, flames engulf their homestead.
 
Métis Indian investigator Gabriel Du Pré finds nothing but ashes when he arrives at the crime scene. But an exceptionally calm young man insists that the fires were intentional before encouraging Du Pré to leave.

The young man serves as a representative of the Host of Yahweh, the millennial cult that bought the vast ranch land from the Eides. Arson is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their questionable activities.

The people of Toussaint do their best to put the mysterious cult out of their minds, but that gets hard to do when seven defectors are shot to death. Now Du Pré must take an even closer look to see what evils lurk beneath the surface of their serenity.

Daisy knows something is wrong the second she wakes up. Her cellphone is chirping, a message popping up for her on the screen—but Daisy doesn't own a cellphone.

As a survivor of a dark cult known as The Fisherman, Daisy is still struggling to overcome her past and live a simple existence at peace. But that simplicity has been shattered by the picture sent to this mysterious phone.

Daisy is terrified The Fishermen are back. She seeks comfort in her friend Jay, but starts to wonder if she can even trust her.

After all, if the cult wants to drag her back, Daisy can't even trust herself.

Detective Lindsay Jackman is investigating a young journalist's murder when she finds out she is working on a scandalous exposé. Her next piece was supposed to shed light on Marnie Spellman, the charming wellness guru who has millions of followers.

By Marnie's account, as a child, she was lifted into the air by a swarm of bees. Brought toward the sunlight, her spiritual connection to nature lit up.

Now she reigns over a cosmetics empire, is regarded as a legendary healer, and stands as the authority of holistic living and eternal beauty. Her most devoted followers—the Hive—keep Marnie's darkest secrets under wraps.

Lindsay sets out to see if Marnie's recipe for success includes murder. But Marnie and her members are clinging as tightly to their secrets as they are to their status.

When Jade was a child, her mother whisked her away from her father to join the cult of the People of Joy. When her mother passed away, Jade was left to face years of sickening abuse at the hands of the cult members.

But now Jade has escaped, forever on the run because the People of Joy are determined to keep their secrets at all costs. As she builds an unstable life on the streets, Jade's only comfort and salvation is art.

After spotting a painting of his missing wife, Sam Cochrane is certain that the artist will have answers about the daughter he's been looking for for years. He asks his friend, ex-cop Luke Kelly, to track her down.

Things start to look up as Sam and Jade are reunited—and even more so as Luke and Jade grow closer. But as news spreads of her return, the People of Joy pose an even greater danger.

In 1998, six-year-old Bea was certain she didn't want a little sister—until Lo is born early. With Lo coming out small and fragile, Bea is determined to uphold her promise as her older sister to always take care of her.

In 2011, a car wreck kills their parents. But Lo would be dead too if the enchanting leader of The Unity Project, Lev Warren, hadn't intervened.

Bea thinks Lev is magnificent, and she can't wait to devote her life to his incredible calling after he saves her sister. Lev promises that the sister will never be hurt again, so long as Bea proves herself to him first.

It's 2017, and Lo is all alone. Her sister has abandoned her in favor of The Unity Project, and the last words Bea ever said to her still ring in her ears: “We'll see each other again.”

It's been six years since they crossed paths with The Unity Project, and Lo has just been invited to meet with Lev and get a look at what the group does. She's hoping for a reunion with her sister, but Bea seems to be long gone.

Lev understands just how much of a betrayal it was for Bea to leave Lo behind. He can promise her a new family that will never let her down—so long as she can prove herself to him first.

The people of Hanover House may preach love and understanding, but behind closed doors, they're no strangers to getting their hands dirty. When a defector of the cult plans to expose Davis Craddock's scam religion in a tell-all book, the Hanoverians aren't worried at all.

The cult dispatches Flo Alamare to speak with the hopeful author, and she lets him know that he's free to write whatever he wants about the group. So long as he doesn't care if his daughter dies, of course.

Not long after the confrontation, Flo is found on the brink of death in an empty lot in the Bronx. It seems she's suffered from a stroke or seizure, but what the doctors don't know is it's the result of an overdose from a designer drug created by Craddock himself.

When Flo is returned to the parents who have been searching for her, the Alamares are out for revenge. They hire tough-as-nails PI Stanley Moodrow to bring Craddock and his cult to justice.

It's summer in Northern California, and the 60s are coming to a violent end. Lonely teenager Evie Boyd can't resist the group of girls hanging around the park with freedom and abandon.

It's not before Evie is completely under the thrall of the older and mesmerizing Suzanne. Suzanne draws her into the fold of a burgeoning cult and under the thumb of it's charismatic leader.

The cult is housed in a sprawling ranch hidden away in the hills, and though it may be run down, Evie finds it exciting. Desperate to find a sense of belonging here, she leaves behind her mother and life to feed her obsession with Suzanne.

But Evie doesn't know she's hurtling toward unimaginable violence.

Disciple Manning can't forget a single word he's heard or image he's seen, no matter how hard he drinks or buries his pain in women. He has total recall, giving his memory 100% accuracy, no matter how many times he replays the past.

Whether it's a gift or a curse, Manning uses this special ability to hit the streets as an unconventional private investigator. His latest case comes from a couple in New Jersey hoping he can track down their daughter who ran away to a cult in the Rust Belt.

This tangled mystery will rely on his ability to remember, but prey on his desperate desire to forget.