Why Did God Make the Tree?

A Patrick Denny Novel

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Pub Date Jul 15 2025 | Archive Date May 24 2025
Cemetery Hill Publications | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles

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Description

Something isn’t quite right in Waylingbrooke, New Hampshire.

Something that Dr. Patrick Denny discovers soon after moving to this seemingly quaint New England town. Having abandoned his successful career as a horror novelist to return to his former profession of psychiatry, the doctor has taken a position at Everston Psychiatric Hospital. His unorthodox methods challenge the institution’s rigid reliance on medication as he guides his patients through the labyrinth of their own minds—an insomniac haunted by the town’s looming tower, a schizophrenic who believes he’s living inside one of Patrick’s horror stories, and a catatonic woman who has spent decades lost in the dark forest of her psyche.

In his attempt to untangle the mysteries of their troubled minds, Patrick’s own tormented past begins to bleed into his present, and the macabre storyteller that still dwells within him threatens to emerge. As stories seem to birth stories and reality loses its edges, Patrick must question whether his return to psychiatry offers deliverance or signals his final descent into madness.

A masterful exploration of the human psyche, Why Did God Make the Tree? weaves together three interconnected tales of psychological suspense, examining how stories shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. With prose as intricate as the minds she explores, Tammy Gregg crafts a narrative that challenges our assumptions about sanity, reality, and the power of the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Something isn’t quite right in Waylingbrooke, New Hampshire.

Something that Dr. Patrick Denny discovers soon after moving to this seemingly quaint New England town. Having abandoned his successful...


A Note From the Publisher

Cover Art Design by David Rines

Hardcover (9798992327106) April 15, 2025

eBook (9798992327120) July 15, 2025

Cover Art Design by David Rines

Hardcover (9798992327106) April 15, 2025

eBook (9798992327120) July 15, 2025


Advance Praise

“A mystifying but endlessly absorbing tale blending surreality and issues of mental health . . . surprisingly cohesive, thanks in large part to the author’s deliberate pacing and unambiguous transitions.”

Kirkus Reviews

[C]ompelling debut . . . explores madness, devil worship, human monstrosity, and the way stories and nature affect our own conscious reality . . . [Gregg] weaves these braided tales into a psychological procedural best suited for readers who relish humane scares over vivid gore . . . [and] toys with expectations throughout, favoring suggestion and mystery over spoon-fed exposition, trusting readers . . . to feel their way through the murk.”

—Editor’s Pick, BookLife Reviews

“[A] journey through madness, love, and self-forgiveness in a modern-day gothic ghost story elevated by wit, rich characters, and proliferating mysteries . . . A master storyteller, Gregg implants exposition into the midst of powerful emotion . . . [and] deftly holds mirrors up to real-life horrors in this twisted, dark and deeply immersive tale.”

—Starred Review, BlueInk

“A mystifying but endlessly absorbing tale blending surreality and issues of mental health . . . surprisingly cohesive, thanks in large part to the author’s deliberate pacing and unambiguous...


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Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9798992327113
PRICE $17.99 (USD)
PAGES 306

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Featured Reviews

Without a doubt, this has been the best book I’ve read so far this year. "Why Did God Make the Tree?" is a psychological thriller that completely drew me in - surprisingly so, since I don’t typically gravitate toward darker, more macabre stories. The author does a great job of exploring the human psyche, and the interwoven narratives create a truly compelling experience. Dr. Patrick Denny, the protagonist, has a tragic past and a layered, intricate life that made him fascinating to follow. I’m already eager to see where his story goes next. The other characters are impressively well-developed, especially given the book’s relatively short length (by today’s standards, anyway). In fact, this would be my only complaint - the book was over too soon :)

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