Synopsis

A riveting debut novel telling the story of a teenage girl and her mother caught in the web of a sinister cult leader whose optimistic vision of hope descends into apocalyptic horror in the jungles of South America.

In 1975 San Francisco, 15-year-old Nell’s world has been ripped apart by her younger sister’s sudden, tragic death and her parents’ subsequent divorce. As her mother desperately reaches out for solace from any quarter―new hobbies, new philosophies, new relationships―a boyfriend leads her into the cult of a charismatic man known as Father. His message of peace and healing proves irresistible, and soon Nell and her mother join his mysterious Church of the People.

As they are drawn increasingly into the vortex of the Church, the community comes to consume their lives, and Nell’s concerns begin to build. She becomes enrolled in the school they operate, is intimidated into adopting their ways of dressing and acting, and is removed from her home.

At the same time, the dangers lurking in the cult’s shadows emerge: threats, physical abuse, and the sudden disappearances of members to Father’s new “utopian” community deep in the jungles of South America. When Nell is secreted there alongside their fellow followers, they come under Father’s power as never before―with horrific and devastating consequences.

By turns sensitive and shocking, powerful and poignant, Dark Messiah is a story of a girl becoming a woman as her life is stolen from her―and a mesmerizing debut from a new voice in contemporary fiction.

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Ebook was released 9/22/26, print version will be out in early November

Excerpt

I want to tell you about Dad.

Dad never got sick as a child.

Dad first heard the voice of God when he was seven years old, and immediately started preaching at the Black churches on the other side of town.

Dad was immediately recognized as a prophet among men. Dad’s IQ would be tested at 165, and he taught himself to read, write, and play the piano, divinely inspired by the Lord.

Dad’s ancestors were Geronimo and Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Sitting Bull, making him a leader and a warrior, a violent ruler and a man of peace, capable of all things.

Dad healed sick people, they followed him wherever he went.

They left everything behind to become his disciples.

Dad only needed three hours of sleep every night.

Dad and Mother had a miracle son, who doctors said was never meant to be.

Dad saved a man from being hit by a car on his voyage west. He threw his body over this man and the car somehow passed through them.

Dad believed confronting our weaknesses together was the only way to break ourselves from those weaknesses.

Dad believed the ends justify the means. Dad abided.

In photos, Dad glowed with the presence of the glory of the Lord.

Dad had to wear sunglasses to protect us from the light of God inside of him. He said it was too beautiful for us to see.

Dad tested our faith.

Dad could cure your diseases.

Dad knew why you were weak, and he knew how to free you from weakness.

Dad loved women. All of them, in all ways. Dad loved men. The same way.

Dad loved children. The same way. Dad loved amphetamines.

Dad loved to see the wicked punished. It was righteous. Dad saw the future.

Dad warned us what would happen if we abandoned him. He knew people who left the Temple would die. And they did.

I need you to understand who he was.

I need you to understand why I believed him, and why I gave him everything.

About the Author

Sara Z. Carson is a public relations professional who lives with her family in Brooklyn. Dark Messiah is her first book.

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