First published 2026
Jaimie Vane once filled concert halls with her cello. Now chronic illness has stolen her career and left her measuring life in symptoms rather than standing ovations. When her younger sister Sybil stops responding to messages from her job at an exclusive wellness retreat, Jaimie receives a mysterious voucher. She travels to Talamh Dhubh, a remote Scottish island where Saoghal Spa promises miraculous healing to wealthy guests. The retreat's founder, Cyan Blache, offers restoration to anyone willing to surrender completely. Jaimie tells herself she came only to find Sybil. She won't believe the stories about life-changing cures or let herself enjoy the mineral baths and black mud treatments. But as days pass, her pain quiets and her body feels lighter. The island seems to draw illness from visitors who embrace its rich, dark earth. Yet healing at Saoghal comes with a price. The retreat doesn't just cure broken people who arrive seeking help. It captures them. Some guests who come damaged never leave at all.
Genres: horror, contemporary, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller, dark-fantasy, mystery-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, haunting, mysterious, suspenseful, unsettling
Tropes: body-horror, isolation, missing-person, unreliable-reality
Setting: Talamh Dhubh, Scottish island, Saoghal Spa
432 pages · Paperback · Hanover Square Press
Content warnings: death, medical-trauma, mental-illness