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!

This intriguing cult-thriller is narrated by multiple POVs in various time periods and walks you through how a single person survived the cult while 14 others perished. Claire, the only survivor of Dominic Bragg/cult leader, doesn’t remember much of what happened during her time in the cult, “the Flock”. She pivots between current time and ten years prior when she walked away from her family and joined The Flock in Bird Haven.

All of her repressed past comes to life when a podcaster comes to town to investigate what happened a decade prior. Though she had attempted to stay out of the limelight, this new energy and interest in the case uncovers secrets and exposes what really happened while under the influence of “Dom”. As her past and present merge together, Claire starts looking for anything that can connect the dots and explain how one of her friends from Bird Haven was murdered.

I found the premise of “Only The Guilty Survive” interesting and was excited to read this ARC through NetGalley. The author did an amazing job of building up how the cult started, how members joined, and ultimately how the leader, “Dom”, was able to take control of the members to bend at his will.

I was hoping for so much more from this book. The beginning was so intriguing and developed so well. I struggled to find interest in the “present day” chapters as it was mundane in comparison to the other timeline. I felt like so much time was spent understanding the cult and all the ins and outs, that the ending fell flat. I LOVED the last page and look forward to a sequel hopefully. I would be interested in the author taking the information from this book and bringing it up to date with the current time period to create a second book with the same characters.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to others. 3/5 stars. As always, thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

I'm a sucker for the podcast theme and cult stories usually get my attention also, sooooo........ yaaayy for me! I really liked this one. Laurel, a local beauty queen is kidnapped and found strangled. Oh yeah, she also belonged to the town cult and 14 of those members commit suicide. Well, 10 years later we have Claire, a survivor, trying to get on with her life and Arlo, a pesky podcaster, turns up to drag it all up again. Overall, a really good story, although Claire was annoying. Just a bit helpless. She really doesn't remember much about "that" day. Nice twist at the end. I recommend this and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Karen Robards and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.

This book renders what seems like an authentic description of the experience of being a cult member. The methods used by Dominic Bragg to maintain control over his followers in the book is as horrifying as it is likely to be realistic, given that he draws on many of the "greats" such as Jim Jones, David Koresh and Charles Manson.

As the sole survivor of the mass suicide carried out by The Flock, as Bragg's followers were known, Claire Kettler is still struggling to come to terms with what happened, not least the prior disappearance of her friend and fellow cult member Laurel (aka Lollie) - which seems to have been the beginning of the end for The Flock - and the subsequent disappearance of the cult leader himself, whose whereabouts currently remain unknown.

But there is more to Laurel's story than meets the eye. And there is more to
Claire too. And the arrival of a podcaster bench on steering up the past is likely to unleash demons that have been kept in check for years...

A compelling, visceral read about what people will do for love - and the price they are willing to pay to find a place where they feel they can belong.

Only the Guilty Survive is a fast-paced, cult-based thriller in which a podcaster comes to a small northern Michigan town in the hopes of solving a long-ignored cult mass suicide and murder of a beauty queen. Claire, the sole survivor of the cult mass death, has now moved on in her life and would love nothing more than to never think of that tragic time again; however, the podcaster has a different agenda. Now, in order to save herself, Claire must face her darkest memories.

Only the Guilty Survive keeps the reader at the edge of their seat. For anyone who is interested in cults, this book does a great job of describing the peer pressure, the manipulation, the vulnerabilities, the innocence, and the desire involved. I love well-written, unreliable narrators (again, they really have to be done right). Kate Robards does a fantastic job telling the story through multiple unreliable POVs in a dual timeline. The story is told through the POVs of Laurel, in the past, and Claire, in the present, with a few chapters from Dom's perspective. The author had me not believing I could trust any of the POVs, which kept me on my toes throughout the book. I'll be honest, there really aren't any overly likable characters throughout the book. However, the mystery of what happened to Laurel and why the Flock killed themselves keeps the reader turning page after page. I absolutely loved and hated the ending at the same time. It was honestly perfect for this book. I will be recommending Only the Guilty Survive.

I love podcast-driven thrillers and the premise of Only the Guilty Survive is really interesting. Unfortunately, it was not a fit for me. The multiple POVs and Claire's choppy narration really slowed the pacing. While I DNF'd this book, other reviewers seem to love the twist, so I'm sure it will find an audience with other readers.

I had the best time reading Only The Guilty Survive by Kate Robards. I enjoyed falling down this culty and twisty rabbit hole. I couldn’t put this fast-paced thriller down and had to know all the things.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange of my honest review.

Amazing thriller that kept me on my toes. I had to stop reading for a while in the middle of this and I was counting the seconds until I could get back to it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Cults and beauty queens? Sign me up. This was so good. I couldn’t put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This was an interesting concept. Didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would as a true crime podcast lover, but still a good read! Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the advanced copy! Publication date August 6, 2024.

I feel like the synopsis made this book sound more interesting than it was. I thought it was depressing, knowing right away that Laurel/Lollie is dead and Claire seems so pathetic still.

I liked the ending and finding out what happened (which I felt like the author owed me by that point) and I liked the title and cover art.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy listening to podcasts and watching documentaries on cults so this book really piqued my interests and had me captivated right away, I would recommended this to anyone with similar interests to me.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Only the Guilty Survive follows Claire, one of the only surviving cult members of The Flock. Shortly after the disappearance and murder of cult member, Laurel “Lollie”, the rest of The Flock turn up dead with the leader missing. Claire struggles to understand what happened and why she wasn’t a part of their grand exit- especially because her PTSD from the experience means she doesn’t remember much of what happened before the deaths. Here enters Arlo, a podcaster who comes to town to tell the story of The Flock in his search to uncover the truth. Claire must race to figure out the past before the blame is placed on her.

This book is told in past and present chapters in Laurel and Claire’s point of view. I enjoyed getting both of their perspectives and having the story unfold in this way. The book had me hooked and I did enjoy it, but I don’t think I understood the ending. I felt something must have gone over my head so I’m looking forward to when others read when it comes out so I can discuss!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!

Kept my interest, book about the before and after of a cult survivor, whose fellow members didn’t make it out. Throw in the kidnapping and murder of her friend, and it was a solid mystery. I think the ending was sort of thrown together, but a good solid cult story.