Vicious Creatures

Vicious Creatures by Ashton Noone is a gripping tale of dark pasts and haunting secrets.

Ava Montgomery never wanted to return home. She fled Reachwood fourteen years ago after the discovery of Adam Albright's body in the forest shattered her young life. However, a violent divorce sends her running back to her parents' house with her troubled daughter, Marjorie, in tow. Upon returning, Ava discovers that not much has changed in the small Oregon town where she grew up.

It doesn't take long for Ava to reconnect with her old crowd, most of whom remained in town after high school. Each of her childhood friends has found fame and fortune since graduation, including Victoria Gallagher—Ava's high school best friend and ex-lover, now unhappily married to a wealthy husband from one of the founding families of Reachwood.

Meanwhile, Ava's daughter becomes intrigued by the forest, captivated by an urban legend about its secret power. Her curious questions bring Ava's long-repressed memories of the traumatic events surrounding Adam's death to the surface. When the body of a missing child is found in those same woods, the dark past starts to repeat itself.

After a knife is left on Ava's doorstep and a threatening message appears on her front door, she wonders if her friends might be involved in the current crime. They never disclosed how much they truly know about what happened to Adam the night he died; does one of them want to drive her out of Reachwood to keep that secret hidden? As Marjorie becomes obsessed with the infamous murder and old friendships and feuds reignite, Ava is drawn back into the forest to confront her own role in its violent history—before her daughter becomes its next prey.