A Step Past Darkness

SIX CLASSMATES. ONE TERRIFYING NIGHT. A MURDER TWENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING…

There’s something sinister under the surface of the idyllic, suburban town of Wesley Falls, and it’s not just the abandoned coal mine that lies beneath it. The summer of 1995 kicks off with a party in the mine where six high school students witness a horrifying crime that changes the course of their lives.

The six couldn’t be more different.

• Maddy, a devout member of the local megachurch
  
  Kelly, the bookworm next door
  
  James, a cynical burnout
  
  Casey, a loveable football player
  
  Padma, the shy straight-A student
  
  Jia, who’s starting to see visions she can’t explain
  
  
  When they realize that they can’t trust anyone but each other, they begin to investigate what happened on their own. As tensions escalate in town to a breaking point, the six make a vow of silence, bury all their evidence, and promise to never contact each other again. Their plan works – almost.
  
  Twenty years later, Jia calls them all back to Wesley Falls—Maddy has been murdered, and they are the only ones who can uncover why. But to end things, they have to return to the mine one last time.
  
  
  Genre: Mystery
  

"A Step Past Darkness is a tour de force of genre blending that delivers everything you could want in a novel: a mind-bending mystery, a charming team of ragtag outcasts, a romance to root for, a brilliant sendup of small-town politics and prejudices, and even a mine pulsing with dark magic. This book is fearless, unbound by space or time and willing to break rules and tackle hard, important questions. It will blow every expectation readers have out of the water (and I can't wait to watch). Utterly gripping and original." - Ashley Winstead