On the surface, this book is about a cult survivor trying to regain some of her memories and understand her role in the demise of the cult. There are flashbacks to the past, but not in the POV of the main character, but from a different victim. There is a lot of repetition of some items, but a lot of missing information to make the story make sense and come together. It doesn’t help that Claire wasn’t particularly likable, her behavior in the past and the current confusing, erratic, irrational. NO one felt particularly relatable. The “twist” was not satisfying and the entire ending did not help the story. I will say, the narrator was a pleasure to listen to and I think I enjoyed the book more because it was an audiobook than if I had been reading a visual copy. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I got really involved in listening to the story. I am getting very interested in the whole cult trope right now and I like the way it got married with the podcaster. I like the back and forth as well between the two women.

I liked the narration it suited the story.
Loved the cover.

Claire is the lone survivor of a cult called The Flock that had lived at an abandoned bird sanctuary in Iola, Michigan. After the murder of her best friend and fellow member of The Flock, Laurel, Claire withdrew from the group, only to wake up one day to find the members dead and the leader, Dominic, missing. Claire was never able to forgive herself for what happened and neither does the town of Iola where she still lives. Now, a podcaster has come to town to try to reveal what really happened to Laurel and it's dragging up memories that Claire thought she would never recover. The story is told in alternating points of view with Claire in the present still dealing with the fallout and trying to remember what happened when she was with The Flock and Laurel and Dominic in the past recounting the final days of The Flock. My main critique was that the book could get a bit repetitive at times when talking about mind control, especially talking about love bombing. I'm also not certain if this type of language would have been common for the time period. That being said, I did enjoy the story, especially Laurel's parts. This book will appeal to those who enjoy stories written like true crime or stories about true crime podcasts.

Only the Guilty Survive is a fascinating look at the inner workings of a cult and the people that want to defect from them. Told from the point of view of several members of the cult - and with the help of a podcast in production - a murder from long ago is solved, bringing peace to many.

The cover art is gorgeous, narration was beautiful, and the story was all-encompassing. As someone who loves true crime it really worked for me, and I would definitely recommend! I have to admit - I did not see the killer coming. Did not except them to be who they were nor did I guess their involvement. Usually I have that nailed earlier than the final pages of the book! Well done.

Thanks for the audio ARC!

I was excited by the premise of this one but ended up not loving it. I felt no connection with the main character and was irritated by her at times. I enjoyed the past/present timeline but that was one of the only redeeming qualities for me. The audiobook narration wasn't bad, though.

This book felt so chaotic that I don't really understand what happened.

The book had such promise. The name was catchy, the cover was beautiful and the premise was intriguing. However, it felt difficult to know which POV was who or when and it felt like the answers came from a completely random place.

Cults have always been intriguing and the premise is interesting but I feel like the execution could have been better. I didn't like Claire at all (or Laurel) and I feel like I should have been relieved she survived and been willing her to find the answers. Instead I just wanted to reach the end to see if things progressed well.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I really enjoyed this small town story about a cult.. Loved how it was told in past and present.. The narrators totally delivered and kept me interested..

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape for the advance reader copy..

Told in multiple POVs, Claire, the surviving cult member, Laurel (Lollie), the murdered beauty queen, and the cult leader Dom, who's currently on the run.

I love the cover and enjoyed the small-town setting. However, the pacing was slow and boring in places.

I was rooting for Claire; she deserved better. I liked how suspicion was cast on multiple characters; it was intriguing. The reveal of the bad guy was anticlimactic. The book was okay.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed the multicast narration on this book! It gave the characters more depth and clarity in my head to have them all voiced by different people. This book was really intriguing to me, as I’ve always found the idea of cults and the type of people that join them interesting. I also liked how the whole story went between the past and present and parts were told through a podcast. I would recommend to anyone who likes fiction books about cults and mysteries!

Ten years ago, the quiet town of Iola, Michigan was thrown into chaos when the enigmatic cult, The Flock, orchestrated a mass suicide at an abandoned bird sanctuary. Led by the charismatic Dominic Bragg, the cult's demise was preceded by the disappearance and presumed murder of local pageant queen, Laurel Tai. Her best friend, Claire Kettler, was left to grapple with the tragedy, haunted by a gaping hole in her memory. Unable to recall the events surrounding Laurel's disappearance or the cult's final days, Claire lives with the weight of unanswered questions. Now, with the arrival of podcaster Arlo Stone, determined to uncover the truth about the cult and Laurel's murder, Claire is forced to confront a past she can barely remember.

Unfortunately, I thought that Only the Guilty Survive falls short of its potential. The first strike was Claire's amnesia, which is a trope in mysteries that automatically makes me groan. Additionally, the characters all felt fairly one-dimensional. The cult leader feels cartoonish rather than truly menacing. Offering chapters from his perspective probably hurt the novel more than helping it since his motivations aren't any further elucidated through them. Claire is a bit of a wet blanket and there isn't much there to endear her to readers.

The pacing of the novel is uneven, with crucial information withheld until late in the story. I'm a firm believer that readers should be given the clues to solve a mystery, and I don't think that was the case here. The abrupt ending was also disappointing, providing little closure and leaving me more baffled than anything. While the premise of a mysterious cult and a missing girl is promising, the execution ultimately falls flat.

The narrators all gave great performances, but I was disappointed that the podcast episodes weren't produced as such.

This review will be posted to Goodreads on August 5, 2024.

Kate Robards' Only the Guilty Survive follows the story of Claire, the sole survivor of a massive cult death. In the present, a podcaster looking for fame finds Claire and tries to unearth the truth of what happened to the cult she once belonged to. For years, she has claimed no memory of the events leading up to what is debated as mass murder or mass suicide or the separate kidnapping and murder of Laurel, her best friend inside the cult. As Claire is pushed to clear her name and remember what happened, her past catches up to her quickly. There's a reason her therapist and her father have tried to keep her from remembering the events of the past.

Only the Guilty Survive had the potential to be a great cult thriller. Unfortunately the end falls flat and wraps up too quickly, leaving the reader begging for more. More plot, more character development, more mystery.

Genre: Thriller
Expected publication: August 6, 2024

Only the Guilty Survive is a thriller by Kate Robards. It tells the story of a podcaster who is looking into a cult’s mass suicide and the murder of a local beauty queen. The cult is in the small town of Iola, Michigan and is led by Dominic Braag. The cult is known as The Flock. The mass suicide of The Flock takes place just after member and beauty queen Laurel is kidnapped. Claire (the only survivor and Laurel’s best friend) takes the brunt of the blame for what happened. Dominic is nowhere to be found and Claire wants to know what really happened. Arlo (a podcaster) starts investigating 10 years later. In order to keep her secrets Claire must find out the truth before time runs out.
Honestly, I started this book expecting more than it gave. I didn’t really care for the characters that much. Claire was annoying. I am a true crime junkie and saw this book was about cults (I know it’s fiction, but I was excited anyway), so I wanted to read it. It’s a book I could have gone without. It’s an okay read and one you can read pretty quickly, but it’s one that won’t stick with me.

This was a great audiobook! I was able to complete immerse myself into this story, almost as if this was a real case I was following.

Although I was able to predict the 'big twist,' I didn't even mind because I loved the overall mystery and storyline. I highly recommend!

The characters in this book were pretty memorable. I appreciated the nuances between the cult members; they weren't presented as mindless drones, they were each given a personality. Additionally, I thought Robards did a great job with the setting. I could imagine a sleepy college town like Iola. I could feel Claire's uneasiness in the place, picture the home and garden of her father, the library, the college, and the bird sanctuary. However, the plot was lacking. Lolly secretly entering a pageant, Claire spending a decade recovering from a cult she was in for a few months, Dom admitting to following a blueprint of former cult leaders. Those things don't make sense. It didn't work for me. I was especially disappointed in the ending. It was abrupt with loose ends. Even when a book is set to become a series, there is the expectation that the initial offering end well. Based on the description, I expected more.

If you like Cult thrillers this one might be for you. Sadly I couldn't get into it and had to DNF pretty early on. The narration was just okay but the story definitely fell flat for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest feedback. I will still be interested in trying more from this new to me author in the future.

In Only the Guilty Survive, Claire, the only survivor of a cult known as The Flock, must re-examine the tragic events that happened a decade earlier, including the disappearance of her best friend, Laurel, when a podcaster arrives in town to investigate the case.

The Reader is treated to Claire's perspective in the present, Laurel's perspective in the past, and another perspective, which I'll keep mum on for spoiler's sake. The back-and-forth between the women was a good way to tell the story. Claire, in the present, has very hazy recollections of her time within The Flock, so Laurel's past perspective is really essential for building that aspect out.

This is a fine book. It does nothing wrong. It tells a story that I feel like a lot of Readers will have fun with. For me though, the mystery just wasn't engaging enough to feel invested in. It didn't pull me in. The character work was fine and I did think that Laurel's past perspective showcasing the lives of those within The Flock was fairly interesting. Overall though, it did nothing to make it memorable, or really stand out for me in this genre.

I think if you are looking for some light entertainment, or a story you can easily fit into your weekend schedule, this could be a good selection. I did feel the audiobook narration was strong and would suggest that format.

Thank you to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I'm glad I gave this one a shot!

I give this a 3.5 rating. There was not as much interest for me in the present time with Claire. She was difficult to like and I felt like she was ultimately whiney.

The chapters that were in the past between Laurel and Dom were interesting and I wish there was more info into the cult themselves and what happened there.

The epilogue threw me for a loop and kind of left us with questions unanswered. I'm unsure if the plan is to create a sequel but I would read it!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book! The narrators were very good!

I would say this is a solid 3.5. I could see a sequel coming from this, especially since a huge piece of information is still missing.

I’m not usually drawn to cult-related content, but this audio thriller completely captivated me. From the first episode, I was on the edge of my seat, unable to stop listening. The storytelling was masterful, with each twist and turn leaving me eager to hear what would happen next.

The podcast format added an extra layer of intensity, making the experience even more immersive and gripping. It managed to keep me engaged from start to finish, with the suspense building in all the right places.

By the end, I was thoroughly impressed. This audio thriller exceeded my expectations and has given me a newfound appreciation for how engaging and powerful this genre can be.

3.5 stars

From the book description:
“<i>The mass suicide of a cult known as The Flock sent shockwaves through the small rural town of Iola, Michigan. Led by the charismatic 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 and fear onto the sole survivor, Claire Kettler–Laurel’s best friend. Burdened by grief and unanswered questions about her friend’s murder and her fellow cult members’ deaths, 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. </i>”

This book is told in two parts from two perspectives in each part: Both parts feature Claire’s perspective in the present day; Part 1 feature’s Laurel’s perspective leading up to her disappearance in the past, while Part 2 features Dom’s view leading up to the Flock’s death in the past.

This book was hard to rate for me. Reading the description the book immediately intrigued me and it was really well written, hooking me immediately, with both the past and the present stories. I loved both the mystery of what was happening at the Bird Sanctuary under Dom (the cult leader/guru), because you realize immediately that something is ominously wrong- and not just because we already know that the group will be found dead at the end of the summer; but also the present-day story of Claire and her inability to cope with her past.

It was really a great set-up for a mystery/thriller that had some parts that came together really well.

Butttttt……some didn’t. And they landed really, really flat. I don’t want to spoil anything, but some of the main mystery solution is really, quite frankly, dull. Like, it comes out of nowhere and just, kind of, happens. And I had no emotional investment in it after everything. Like seriously? That was it?

But Another part did hit some of the right notes and left me with the chills. But also some questions…..it needed some more explanation based on the rest of the story. Like, based on the rest of what we read, it didn’t quite fit without more context, even though it was good. I’ll give you that, it was good.

So yeah, this was a great book overall, but the ending needed maybe some more tweaking. Which dampens it a little bit, because the ending is, well, important.

But it’s still very worth reading. I’d recommend it.