A riveting physcological thriller that explores the many emotions of mental illness. There is procedural elements and dark compounds.

Grace and nine other children escape a FLSD compound in Canada and become known as the Brigham 10. In order to help herself cope with the trauma she endured, she develops dissociative identity disorder. Many years later, one by one, members of the Brigham 10 start dying. Detective Burnelli who worked the case of the Brigham 10 is now tasked with finding out if the deaths are suicidal in nature or if something more suspicious is going on and if Grace has anything to do with their deaths.

S.M. Freedman is a new to me author, but after reading this one, I immediately added her backlist of books. I could not put this one down! There are so many positives with this book. Excellent writing which is concise and without fluff which is what I prefer. The story is plausible which is always a huge bonus. Grace's character and her condition were written so well. I was fascinated with her from start to finish. S.M. Freedman left it to Detective Burnelli do the detective work. The author clearly did her research. It was both fascinating and infuriating reading about the Mormon fundamentalist movement. Even though this book details some pretty heavy topics such as sexual, physical and mental abuse, it is written in a way that the reader understands clearly what is going on without being explicit.

Minor criticisms: This book deserves a better cover, one that screams pick me. In the beginning, Grace's flashbacks threw me off a bit since they aren't presented in a separate chapter, but rather happen within each chapter. That made it difficult to discern past from present, but as the story went on and I got used to the characters, it was much easier to adjust. The final confession at the end which is a style that is never my preference. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Many thanks to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for my eARC.

Grace is one of the Brigham’s Ten, a group of ten teens and children that escaped from Brigham, an FLDS compound in Canada, years ago. Having faced abuse, forced marriages and the constant need to “keep sweet,” the group decides its best to face the unknown world and possibly damning their souls than to endure their unbearable reality for all eternity. Since their escape many have moved on with their lives the best that they could, but when one of the ten commits suicide under some strange circumstances the police begin to look into the other Brigham individuals, discovering that this is not the only strange death to occur among the ten. Matters are further complicated because Grace has been diagnosed with DID, dissociative identity disorder–otherwise known as multiple personalities–and she can’t always control which alter personality will take control, nor what they do. 

I flew through Blood Atonement! It was fast-paced and gripping, keeping me on the edge of my seat for most of this novel. I liked the nonlinear timeline; the action moves between Grace’s time in the Brigham compound and the time, years later, after their escape. It was an effective way in which to reveal things (people, events, motives) while also creating suspense. It also didn’t hurt that this is a topic I find interesting. I enjoyed the characters; they are well developed and honest. Freedman did an especially incredible job of creating Grace. She is a strong yet flawed individual that I found myself rooting for. The ending felt a little bit rushed, but still contained a couple of surprises.

Grace DeRoche suffers from dissociative identity disorder after escaping childhood abuse at the hands of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. When other escapees die under suspicious circumstances, one of her alter personalities is the prime suspect. As evidence mounts against her, Grace must determine if she’s a murderer or the next victim.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

An intriguing set-up, but I found the pacing too slow and the switching viewpoints confusing. I really couldn't get into it, unfortunately.

(Revew copy from NetGalley)

In a Nutshell: Strongly plotted, nicely written, emotionally hardhitting. Has minor flaws, but overall, a must-read.

Story Synopsis:
Grace DeRoche lives a life of solitude with her service dog, her goats and her pottery, trying to move one from her earlier years as a member of a Fundamentalist LDS sect that believes in subservient women and polygamous marriage. Grace had escaped during a police raid along with nine other children. Now, some of the other survivors have turned up dead. Suicide or murder, Detective Beau Brunelli isn’t yet sure. But one thing is for sure: what’s happening is somehow connected with Grace. But with her mental and physical health issues, how can he find out the truth?

Where the book worked for me:
👌 The characters are based on a real community called the Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) movement. Reading about them isn’t easy and is infuriating, especially as a woman. The extent of the brainwashing is horrifying! But this also is the biggest plus of the book. The author’s research and depiction work well to enhance the creepiness of the story. If you need one reason to read this book, this is it!
👌 The author's foreword at the start gives the right background to those readers who are unaware of the FLDS movement. It was very helpful to me to get this insight into the sect before beginning with the story.
👌 The author was a private investigator who has now turned to writing. This comes out so well in the criminal investigation segments. There are elements that I have never seen mentioned in usual crime fiction. It felt like a book written by someone who knows the system, and this adds great authenticity.
👌 Detective Beau Brunelli’s character is nicely sketched. The hard work that goes into police work is depicted well through him and his team. I also liked how the investigative reins remain firmly in the hands of the police, and how it is shown not as a one-man-show but as a collaboration between various teams.
👌 The sexual abuse that the women in the sect undergo isn’t easy to read. So I truly appreciate the author’s writing choice of not going into extended details of the sexual infringements but revealing just enough to let us know what was happening. Of course, there is plenty of other abuse detailed on the pages. Well-written, but consider yourself warned: the book isn’t going to leave you easily.
👌 Grace’s mental disorder is written so well! I don’t want to go into spoilers by naming it, but suffice to say, I have read a few books with characters suffering from this problem, and this was one of the best-ever depictions of the same.
👌 The pace is quite slow, and with the sheer number of characters and the shifting timelines, it is near impossible to read faster. Despite this, I never felt overwhelmed or frustrated because the plot kept calling me back to it. If I had had a lighter schedule, I would have completed this within a day, it was so compelling!
👌 As with every psych thriller, I kept trying to guess who the culprit was. The author spun me in so many valid circles that I ended up dizzy. But after the big reveal, it was easy to see the clues she had scattered along the way. I loved how the reveal came logically from the plot rather than being a pulling-the-rug kind of solution.


Where the book could have worked better for me:
☠ I like the method by which the author incorporated the flashbacks in her writing; I just wish they had been indicated better. There are plenty of flashbacks in the story, not all of which are written with smooth transitions. It is sometimes confusing to understand which timeline is active. (Do note that I was reading a digital ARC. It is possible that the transitions are marked better in the final publication.)
☠ The final moments of the climax were straight out of a Bollywood blockbuster. (This is NOT a compliment.)
☠ There is one first person narration in the story (the rest is a limited third person narration from the point of view of various characters) but there are certain points in this track that I am unclear about.
☠ Hate the cover! I wouldn’t have cast this book a second glance had a ‘bangerlicious’ review by one of my GR friends, who goes by ‘GirlWithThePinkSkiMask’, not popped up on my feed. The cover doesn’t do justice to the story.

Overall, a book worth reading for a multitude of reasons as it hits most targets right in their bull’s eye. Recommended to readers of fiction inspired from real-life, cult fiction, police procedurals and religious fanaticism.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Blood Atonement”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Trigger Warnings: It’s a book about a religious cult that believes in male superiority. Imagine every horrible idea associated with this concept, and you’ll find it in the book. Not easy reading, for sure.

What an intense and interesting read. I find the idea of cult life fascinating. It’s hard to grasp how people can faithfully follow alongside someone who makes such outlandish claims, and yet, it happens. This is the story of ten survivors of a cult and how they’re all meeting their demise one after the other.

The way the author dives into the backstory through Graces mind and dissociation is cleverly done. And though it can be hard to read at times, it’s a story I found hard to put down.

I’m a sucker for a plot twist, and this story certainly had that. It was riveting, insightful, and well written.

Definitely worth a read.

Brothers and sisters are dying. Is Grace, one of the sisters, the killer, or is it a different one of her multiple personalities? For Grace has many such, all independent, because she suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, a consequence (defence mechanism) of her traumatic childhood. That trauma was to be born into a religious order, a branch of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints). Their prophet, Warren Jeffs, alluded to but not present in the story, is a real person, currently serving a life sentence in Texas. The branch in this book is fictitious, and is located in the fictional village of Brigham situated close to the real town of Bountiful in British Columbia. It is based on various splinters that have taken place in the ’real’ world due to different interpretations of the original “Book of Mormon”. In this case, the practice of polygamy, coercive behaviour, child marriage (including rape and paedophilia), all of which have been attested at various times. One of the problems with polygamy is that closed communities accumulate spare brothers, the girls having been taken as second or third wives by older males. Many of these young men are expelled for misdemeanours and are referred to as the Lost Boys.
Twenty years ago, Grace (18) escaped from the fenced in village during a police raid. Along with her she took some other children. She feels deep regret and guilt that her younger half-sister, who should have been with them, did not escape, especially so because, subsequent to this, the whole community committed mass suicide under orders from their local leader, Bishop Gideon Smith. The escapees have all had troubled lives and recently two have died, apparently by suicide, and two have died possibly by accident. Detective Beau Brunelli, who had been involved at the time of the escape, becomes convinced that someone is killing them as a blood atonement, a prescribed punishment in some sects of the FLDS for apostasy among other unforgivable sins. Is Grace an innocent and hence a potential victim, or a killer seeking redemption for her own sins?
At heart, this story is a police procedural, conforming quite closely to the tropes of that style: troubled detective, grumpy boss, a number of suspects to be questioned, an accelerating ending with jeopardy. What makes this stand out is the FLDS background, most of which we learn about from flashbacks that Grace experiences during fugue states when some external event triggers her to retreat in her mind, allowing one of the other personalities to take front stage. Most of Brunelli’s suspects are thus inside Grace, although he has one or two others, notably one of the Lost Boys, and the main unfolding of the plot follows him through the investigation. I have to say I worked out all the mystery elements quite quickly, but the background and the quality of the writing kept me reading (after all, I could have got it all wrong). I’d rate it 4.75 so rounds up to 5.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Blood Atonement by S.M.Freedman

I admit I’m usually quicker to figure out who the bad guy is, but this book had a wonderful twist that fooled me. The reader will find the story of this group of Fundamental Latter Day Saints (FLDS) living in Canada most horrifying.

Grace is the oldest child being brought up in a FLDS family and community. Desiree, and by another mother, Sariah follow. Obedience is mandatory or “corrections” are given by the revered bishop, called Uncle G. Serious infractions will require a blood atonement to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.

As the result of childhood mistreatment, Grace suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder. This once saved her life, and now complicates the story. Grace saved 10 children from further harm under Uncle G’s command, and now, as adults, someone is killing the survivors off one by one.

You’ll need to finish this well written, character driven story to sleuth out culprit. It is a tale for mature readers due to references to certain acts of abuse.

My thanks to #DundurnPress and #NetGalley for this ARC for my review.

⚠️ This was not an easy book to read. This is fiction...but it's based on the FLDS in North America, it’s a shocking, eye-opening account of what atrocities take place behind closed doors. In this case, behind the electrified fence.

⚠️The horrendous behaviors of those in charge, the abuse of the women and the devastating sexual assaults of children. Not to mention the abandonment of young boys to keep the balance tilted for more wives per man.

Grace was born into the FLDS. She knows if she has any chance at survival she needs to leave her family, and the only life she knows behind her. But she also needs to protect her younger sisters from the same life she’s long endured. They need to come with her, to escape this life.

Grace and nine others manage to make their way out and into the arms of the police. And what at first seems to be better days ahead, only leads to continuing nightmares, as they’re separated and placed into foster care.

Years later, as adults they’re all suffering a myriad of mental health problems. From DID to abusive, self-harm.

To add to their unimaginable suffering someone is killing off the surviving 10. But why? And who?

This read affected me profoundly. The merciless abuse (based on true accounts) left me sick and at times too stunned to continue reading.

The authors’ note in the beginning states she wrote this book to honor the victims. She did a remarkable job of shining a light on the damage and abuse that is continuing to happen all over North America (and beyond).

Once again, my thanks to GirlWithThePinkSkiMask whose brilliant review made me immediately request this book!

I highly recommend! This book will stay with me for a very long time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press.

Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for accepting my request to read and review Blood Atonement.

Author: S.M. Freedman
Published: 11/15/22
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Trigger Warning: Warren Jeffs, Fundamentalist Mormons, child & sexual abuse, cult.

There is not a lot left to say after putting the trigger warnings. This is a gut-wrenching story. I found it to be written well, in a fashion that didn't disrespect real life people. The abuse is implied and suggested, not graphic. The emotional and psychological abuse is prevalent throughout.

I think stories like this, while fiction, give enough information to make reasonable people pay attention to their surroundings. This is heartbreaking.

I do think there is a market for this telling; it can start a conversation.

A dark, disturbing portrait of a cult and its impact on those who survived and escaped it. Grace has dissociative personality disorder which was helpful when she was being abused but which now poses big challenges. How reliable is she as a narrator? That's less the question (although it is a big one) than the identity of the villain who is murdering others who were able to get out as children. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. An intriguing thriller.

The pace was quite slow at the beginning, but it did pick up, thankfully. While the story is fiction, the author states that it is based on the FLDS, so keep that in mind when reading this. The author does a commendable job showing someone with DID, as well as the trauma the children must have lived through. There are alternate POV's, flashbacks, and DID episodes, but it's done it a way that it sounds more confusing than it is. While there is abuse, the sexual assault scenes aren't done in a graphic manner. You couldn't help but root for Grace. I really enjoyed her dog, as well. The ending was probably my least favorite part of the story with it's play-by-play format. Prior to reading this, I didn't know much about Mormon compounds, so I found that interesting.

Blood atonement is the first book I have read from S.M Freedman and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It was very well written and I found myself completely drawn into the complexities of the story. It deals with some harrowing themes but without being overly graphic or vulgar. The story had plenty of red herrings to keep us guessing to the end.

Aaaaall the feels for this one! This is about the FLDS and it felt very true documentary style and my heart bled for the reality of these fictional characters. The writing was so well done and straight to it, you felt for every character because this was a hundo percent something that could have happened or did happen in regards to the way of life. The murder mystery and detective was a bonus for the win all around.

Grace grew up in the FLDS and had a hard life to say the very least. In order to survive the enormous amount of suffering her mind created other personas and she suffers from multiple personality disorder. She was able to escape but years later some of the people who managed to escape with her die. Is it suicide? Is it murder? You’re taken through the story from her current point of view and suffering, Beau the detective battling the case, and the past when she was in the FLDS and what her life consisted of.

Absolute win of a book but there are triggers of abuse. Check out what FLDS is before and if you can handle the keep sweet: pray, and obey you can handle this book.

Thank you Dundurn Press and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Grace DeRoche suffers from dissociative identity disorder after escaping childhood abuse at the hands of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church. When other escapees die under suspicious circumstances, one of her alter personalities is the prime suspect. As evidence mounts against her, Grace must determine if she’s a murderer or the next victim.

This was a brilliant read. I have not found many books that manages to portray dissociative identity disorder accurately. The book goes back and forth between the time when Grace grew up in the fundamental Mormon Church, and her current life. The book is well-researched. You sense that the author has studied cults thoroughly. The chapters describing life in the church were chilling. You almost want to hide under a blanket and close your eyes tightly. There was a lot of abuse in the church, but the author doesn’t go into detail. Freedman again impresses when she describes how Grace crawl into a safe space in her mind when the abuse happens. In addition to feeling like you have a front-row seat to a completely different life-style, the book is also thrilling. We follow a police investigation where former members of the cult end up dead. The clock is ticking, and you really want to know what will happen next.

I loved this book, it stirred up strong emotions and kept me on the edge of my seat. Please read it, the book deserves a big audience and hopefully the author will keep writing memorable books that you don’t want to end.

Thanks to netgally and dundurn press for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! When a book brings together historical fiction and thriller/mystery, I grab it up. It’s a combination that I don’t find too often, and I absolutely love it. It was very interesting to learn about the Mormon compounds and their way of life through Grace’s memory, and a much better way of telling it rather then having the “Past” and “Present” chapters. Freedman writes Grace with such depth that you feel both sympathy and empathy for her. There was a moment in the book that led me to figure out who was behind it all, but I believe that the author put that breadcrumb there on purpose. However, there was a twist that I didn’t see coming at all; I was so shocked when I read it! The book was filled with a tense feeling, it was suspenseful, and it was fast paced. It was also so unputdownable, I carried my e-reader around so I could continue to read it! That’s when you know it’s a great book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers and/or historical fiction.

My Rating Style: 4.5 rounded down to 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ticked almost all the boxes GREAT READ!!!

Grace DeRoche is one of the ten kids who escaped the Fundamentalist Morman Church better known as the FLDS. She led a group of abused children to safety after the horrors they experienced in their short lives.

When the kids who escaped start turning up dead of suspected suicides Grace retreats within herself. Suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID) brought on by her childhood abuse Grace has a fragmented life and large blank spaces in her memory.

Triggers are lurking around every corner and when one of Grace’s alters takes over she doesn’t have any memory of what happens. Is Grace next or is it much more sinister than that??

Big thanks go out to my good friend and Goodread buddy GirlWithThePinkSkiMask for (as she would say) sounding the Banger Alert and bringing my attention to this one!!!

This book is fiction HOWEVER it is based on the FLDS and makes references to the real pervs from the real life cult and if you have seen the Netflix documentary ‘Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey’ you will know how messed up this is gonna be!!!

The author has done an amazing job of depicting the traumatising terror that these children must have felt and lived through. In my opinion she also did an excellent job of showing the reader how DID might feel and how it can come across to others. I felt that she handled this with care and while I personally have no experience with DID I think it was really well written.

The writing quality is excellent the reader is taken on what could have been a messy ride through Grace’s mind and back in time, flashbacks, DID episodes, current day and alternate POV. None of this is done with a heading at the top but I was never lost. It is written in a way that you always know who is talking, what is happening and what timeline you are in. This was excellent and one of the best parts of the book.

This book has a tonne of Trigger Warnings and take heed of them it isn’t nice to read some of the abuse. BUT having said that I felt even this was handled really well. You do read about what was happening to Grace and the others. Annnnnd your heart is almost ripped from your body (especially knowing that these things have and are still happening in the FLDS in real life) however, the author manages to take you right to the edge without having to descriptively go through a sexual assault scene or perversely describe it.

The characters were quite likeable - my heart bled for Grace and all the other kids. I wanted to actually have a fist fight with the main perv and all the other pervs and even the parents who stood back and allowed all this to go on…it invoked some serious emotions and that to me is the sign of good writing.

I also loved Grace’s dog what an absolute champion there to help Grace when she was really going through it!! Detective Burnelli was great he did his job and followed the evidence didn’t get carried away, had some personal baggage but didn’t let it get in the way of the case.

My big gripe was with the ending, unfortunately this was a hand holding session whereby the ‘baddie’ tells us in great detail every reason for doing the things they have done. The rest of the book was good at allowing the reader to draw conclusions and understand using less words but the ending was a play by play. Although this was a bit tiresome it still did not ruin the book for me.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone with even a remote interest in cults or the FLDS, as I said earlier it is fiction however if you know anything about this cray cray group of people you will know the author has probably hit the nail right on the head.

Thank you to Dundurn Press, the author and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Freedman is a Canadian writer who previously spent years as a private investigator in Vancouver. This is her fourth novel. It is inspired by the some of the actual events that occurred in Bountiful BC and the case against Warren Jeffs. In the book, Grace is a young woman who with other children escaped from an abusive religious cult. The trauma she endured there has affected her deeply and she is seeing a therapist for help. Beau is a detective and the man that first greeted the children when they escaped the cult. When a number of the now adult former cult members end up dead from apparent suicide, Beau takes a deeper look and thinks something more evil is going on. He eventually suspects Grace of being involved. This is a riveting psychological thriller and a wonderful recommendation for fans of the genre. Note that while child abuse, both physical and sexual, is part of the story, it is mostly suggested or hinted at without any graphic descriptions. I really liked this book!

Another fast pace book with so many twist and turns that left me in the shock of awww. Poor Gracie. Having to face the tragic past of the life that Gracie thought was normal in her family, was the hardest thing that she ever faced. Detective Beau was the unknown hero there for Gracie and Deseri. The book was filed with so much information. The writer did a wonderful job at collecting the information that was needed to support the events portrayed in the book. I loved the book. It’s a great read for me.