The plot was very intriguing and quite different from what I normally read. Its execution was solid and kept my interest. I did not really connect with the characters though, especially Claire. She was a bit too weak and passive for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

If you love cult thrillers - this one is for you. Sometimes podcast style books come off as cringey to me but this was actually well done. Less scripts and more of the POV’s summary of the podcast episodes. What I liked about this book was the atmosphere of where the cult resided. It’s perfectly descriptive. While I didn’t really love any of the characters, I did like Claire’s perspective as she healed from the cult and how she psychologically processes what had happened to her. It was a bit of a slow burn and I felt that 80% of the way through I was just ready to have all of my questions answered and the ending wraps up really quickly. I could see a second book following this one as just enough was left hanging by a thread to continue a story. Overall, I really liked this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane for this ARC!

I much enjoyed this book and I didn't saw the ending coming at all. Initially the pacing felt off but in the end that made sense. Good suspense building to. It left me felt icky and disturbed but in a way you want a thriller to do.

This was a super anticipated read for me. I love a good podcast mystery novel and a good cult mystery. This had everything. The beauty pagent abduction and then the mass unaliving was obviously very sad but also very interesting for the plot line in terms of what motivated the unaliving. Clair and Lollie were very interesting characters It made me sad that we didnt get to see Lollie live and thrive post cult. The ending wasn't what I expected tbh I wasnt a complete fan of how it ended but I also get it.

If you’re a true crime fan, you will love Only The Guilty Survive by Kate Robards. This thriller moves quickly and keeps you wanting more. There’s mystery, suspense, a podcaster element, and dealings with a cult. This one has a little bit of everything for someone who loves thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books for an ARC copy of this book.

Ten years ago, members of the cult, the Flock, perished from a mass suicide after one of their own, Lollie, was abducted and killed. Their charismatic leader, Dom, disappeared after the suicides and has never been found. The only survivor, Claire, has repressed her memories of the event and was heavily blamed because she was the only one left. She doesn't speak to anyone about it, not even her husband.

A podcaster, Arlo, comes to town and starts investigating the Flock for his new true-crime podcast, Birds of a Feather, and it forces Claire to relive the experience and try to find out if she remembers anything and if she can find out who killed Lollie before Arlo blames her again.

Robards tells the story through flashbacks to the time of the cult with Lollie (Laurel) and Dom sharing the POV and Claire's POV in the present time. Robards has obviously researched well into cults and how they form and I found those timelines very engaging, despite knowing the outcome.

I found myself really engaged with Laurel's story and my heart broke for her while she was trying to leave the cult. I thought Robards did an amazing job with Claire as well because she's ultimately a flawed character and you're not quite sure how much to believe and how much to sympathise with her at times. The ending threw me a bit but it really suited the book well.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love books with a cult/true crime theme and this one did not disappoint 👏🏼👏🏼 This thriller had me highly engaged from the very first page to the very last! It was super dark and twisty which is exactly what I like. Chefs kiss 🤌🏼

The premise of Only the Guilty Survive hooked me immediately. It is a fascinating read into cult life and how cult members come to follow their leaders without question. I am giving the book 3 stars as I was intrigued to find our answers to the questions about the cult. However, I do feel like the ending was rushed and left me wanting more answers than were provided. I don't mind an ambiguous ending. This book the ending came so fast I flipped back to make sure I hadn't missed a chapter. Thank you to Kate Robards, Crooked Lane, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

DNF at 58%

I really really tried with this one but it gets over half way and to not actually care about any character, I had to stop. This "true crime podcast" genre is flooded right now and I don't think this one makes the grade. Maybe better editing is needed as it was too slow to actually pull this reader in.

I wish the author future success.

This book is told in various perspectives, the lone survivor of a cult, the cult leader and one of the members who was killed, both past and present day stories. It touched on the vulnerability of people and how the leader looked for and exploited that and to a certain degree, how the one survivor was still coping with that and a lack of her own identity. It was pretty good but could have been stronger, more effectively told and the side plot of who killed Lollie felt somewhat unnecessary 3.5

Only the Guilty Survive" was my first dive into Kate Robards’ work, and it definitely met my expectations. The story moves quickly and keeps things interesting, making it easy to keep turning the pages to solve the mystery of the past.

The book centers around Claire, the lone survivor of a cult known as "the Flock," which tragically ended in what seemed to be a mass suicide. Although she’s trying to leave that chapter behind, the small town’s blame and judgment weigh heavily on her. Interestingly, Claire’s memories of her time in the cult are patchy, leaving her puzzled about why she was the only one to make it out.

The story shifts between Claire's perspective and that of another cult member, Lollie. From Lollie's point of view, we get a closer look at the cult’s final weeks and the buildup to its catastrophic end.

I really enjoyed the book, but it didn’t quite hit five stars for me because the reveal of the murderer came from an unexpected character who hadn’t been prominent in the story. I like surprises, but the killer being more present throughout the book or possibly choosing one of two other characters as Lollie’s killer might have made the story stronger.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel to see what Dominic comes up with next.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for letting me check out an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look out for its release on August 6, 2024.

Follow Claire, the lone survivor of a mass suicide at The Flock, ten years later as a podcaster searches for the truth of what really happened that night and why Claire survived.

A solid four stars from me! It did take me a bit to get into the story but the end made it worth the read!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book!

10 years ago, members of the cult, the Flock, perished from a mass suicide. Or was it? The deaths came weeks after a member of the Flock, Laurel, was abducted and subsequently killed. Claire, a member of the Flock survived, and the Flock's leader, Dominic was never found.

When podcaster, Arlo, starts poking around into what happened all those years ago and reporting on it, it forces Claire into reluctantly relieving the memories from that day and whether the cult really was the sanctuary that she remembered.

The story is told from the points-of-view of Laurel (when she was in the cult) and Claire in the present day. About 2/3 into the story, we are introduced to Dominic's point-of-view as cult leader.

The aspect of the cult was well-depicted and reminiscent of well known cults and their leaders. How the members were recruited, the seemingly nurturing and charming leader who eventually reveals their paranoia, manipulation and domineering ways once they have their followers under their spell, group chants, exercises claiming to achieve purity and the public humiliation.

I found Laurel's story to be the most captivating. I could feel her sheer desperation and hopelessness as her thoughts revolved around her sole goal of leaving the cult, while also wanting to do right by other members of the Flock. Whilst I admired her bravery and determination to help the others, I was also internally screaming for her to fly the coop while she could. Oh, how things could have turned out so differently had she made different choices.

While I would have liked the story to have ended differently, it was actually perfect for this book.

I want to give NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books a special thank you for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! ‘Only the Guilty Survive’ is a psychological thriller written by Kate Robards. This book will be released on August 6, 2024.
This thriller is a two part multi POV of a cult’s mass suicide, a pageant queen’s murder, a missing cult leader, a lone survivor with memory loss, and a podcaster digging into the mystery of it all. At first, I had difficulty getting into this book. By nature, the characters aren’t relatable to the average reader which fueled my disinterest. However, about 60% of the way through, it really picked up and I became much more engrossed in the story.
Although this ARC is not the final edit, there were several glaringly obvious misspellings and grammar mistakes. Additionally, when the ARC is submitted as only a PDF, the reader is unable to change the font size on the NetGalley app, making it incredibly frustrating to read.
Overall, I gave this book a 3/5 stars. I was surprised by the conclusion and was definitely under the impression that it was heading a different way. I found that the POV of the cult leader himself was a good move and very interesting. I think it could have been edited better and some plot points ironed out. However, it was a good story and I enjoyed it!

I wasn’t crazy about the cult aspect of this book or the jumping back from past to present. Also each chapter was a different point of view. Although I had to finish it to see actually what happened.

Only the Guilty Survive by K. Robards, published by Crooked Lane / Penguin Random House is a full length, stand alone thriller.
Claire barely survived a cult and its mass destruction, just like Lollie another former member.
The story jumps between past and present, between the two povs of Claire and Lollie. An ok read, 4 stars.
Blurb: The mass demise of a cult known as The Flock sent shockwaves through the small rural town of Iola, Michigan. Led by Dominic Bragg, The Flock camped at an abandoned bird sanctuary before their sudden and shocking demise. The deaths came just weeks after one of their members, Laurel Tai, a local pageant queen, was abducted.
The town turned its blame on Claire Kettler–Laurel’s best friend. Claire can’t help but wonder what really happened, especially when the cult leader is nowhere to be found.
When podcaster Arlo Stone begins poking around ten years later, determined to uncover the truth about the cult and Laurel’s murder, Claire is propelled back into action. In a desperate attempt to puzzle out the past and keep her secrets from being spilled for the entertainment of thousands of listeners, Claire must dig into a tangle of unanswered questions before time runs out and history repeats itself.

Cults seems to be the topic du jour lately and I was so intrigued by the premise (and the gorgeous cover) of this one.

A decade ago, Claire was the sole survivor of a mass suicide at "The Flock", a commune at an abandoned bird sanctuary run by leader Dom. Claire joined as a lost nineteen year old reeling from struggles at school, her mother's terminal cancer diagnosis, and a demanding father. Trouble reaches the flock when their recruiter, Lollie, disappears in the middle of the night and is soon after found dead. Just days before her abduction she entered a beauty pageant and won, which means people are paying attention to her disappearance and murder. When Claire finds the fourteen other members of the group dead in the garage due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the midst of this media storm, she was not treated as a victim but as a suspect.

Ten years later, Claire still lives in her small hometown but has repressed many memories from her time with the Flock at the encouragement of her therapist. She is married to a steady and stable man but is stressed by his increasing pressure to start a family. When a podcaster rolls into town looking to get to the bottom of what happened with the Flock, Claire feels her fraught peace is in imminent danger. But despite her father, her husband, and her therapist insisting she is better off not remembering that fateful day, she finally wants to find the truth -- before the podcast does.

I had high hopes for this one and ultimately wanted a lot more from the plot. I had a tough time connecting to Claire and her husband. The best parts of the book were the flashbacks from Lollie's perspective -- she had the clearest and most compelling voice. It did, however, really do a good job portraying the way that cult leaders sink their teeth into their members and how that hold can last long after the group exists. It was good, but could have been great!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC**

After escaping “The Flock” cult, Claire can’t remember anything from her time there. She is the sole survivor of a mass suicide leaving 14 others dead.

A podcast host comes to interview her and memories begin to come back. A great book with twists that keep you interested.

There are few things I love more than a thriller with a cult. Give me a thriller with a podcast AND a cult…✨swoon✨

Random fact about me, the concept of a cult terrifies and intrigues me at the same time. I just want to know what’s going on in their heads. This book, while a work of fiction, did just that. We had the opportunity to interact with Claire, the only survivor, as she grapples with guilt and an air of suspicion in her small town.

We have all my fav’s- multiple POV’s, dual timelines, and unreliable narrators

Something to note: while the podcast is part of the story it is not a main driving force the way it is in other books.

I don’t have many cons for this read, but I will say it ended abruptly. I could have used a few more chapters.

Overall I enjoyed this and look forward to more from this author!

I loved this book. I enjoyed every second of reading it and often stayed up way too late to read just one more chapter. I loved the cult storyline, dual timelines, and multiple POVs. It was interesting to learn how the cult leader thought and made his decisions throughout.

I also just can’t stop thinking about it. That makes an incredible 5 star read.

I have shared it on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLBBVRm2/ and here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLBBQ6h2/ and on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/14062470


Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this!