Torment

In the tranquil coastal town of Wolf Hollow, an early fall morning shatters with the discovery of a horrifying crime. Six months after Alison Newton's senseless murder, her body is unearthed and desecrated, sending shockwaves through the community. Veteran Detective Harper Jones returns to lead the investigation alongside Medora Dunning. As they explore the darkness lurking beneath the town's idyllic surface, they uncover a ruthless serial killer with chilling intentions. Racing against time, Harper and Medora must confront hidden truths before the killer strikes again. 

In Jeffrey Butler's compelling debut novel, Torment, the author examines the simmering darkness of human obsession, guilt, and the pursuit of justice. Set in Wolf Hollow, a town faced with a recent violent past, the narrative unfolds against a backdrop of death and despair as detectives investigate a grave violation that echoes a previous murder. Butler expertly crafts a taut narrative filled with tension and suspense, featuring the lives of his characters as they confront their deepest fears and regrets. The novel opens with a strikingly vivid scene: a man uncovering a corpse from a grave under the watchful gaze of the moon. Butler’s writing shines in its atmospheric descriptions, creating an eerie tension that grips the reader from the outset. This initial scene sets the tone for the novel and establishes the recurring motif of resurrection—both literal and metaphorical—as the dead are unearthed and past traumas resurface. 

The detective protagonist, Harper Jones, is haunted by his past—most notably the murder of his partner, Anders, which occurred on the same night as Alison Newton's death. This parallelism deepens the narrative as Harper struggles with his grief and guilt, driven to seek closure not only for the victims but for himself. Butler skillfully paints a character who is not just a detective mired in the chaos of crime scenes but a man wrestling with demons of his own making. His complex relationship with his fellow officers, mainly the new detective Medora Dunning, is cleverly explored. 

Butler’s exploration of violence against women is particularly telling as each murder brings forth a visceral reaction—from the violation of Alison's grave to the brutal murder of Kenneth. The juxtaposition of their fates forces the reader to confront the horrific implications of gendered violence and the ways it reverberates through communities left to deal with such tragedies. Through intricate plotting and richly drawn characters, Torment captivates the reader's attention, drawing them into a web of suspense intertwined with the characters' shared histories. This twisty tale is hauntingly arresting and will have you turning the pages nonstop.