by Eric LaRocca
Part of Burnt Sparrow, book 2
First published 2026
Ten years have passed since the Christmas morning massacre of 2003 devastated Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire. Rupert Cromwell and Gladys Esherwood remain imprisoned within End House, enduring endless days of suffocating routine. Their isolation breaks when Pierce, a local courier, arrives with news of The Perdido Society, a clandestine organization operating beneath the town's surface. As Rupert becomes entangled with this mysterious group, he uncovers a complex network of dark secrets that reaches throughout the community. The discovery sets in motion a chain of events that will bring fresh violence to Burnt Sparrow and expose buried transgressions. Rupert and Gladys embark on a descent into moral corruption that transforms them into the very monsters they once feared. This second volume in LaRocca's trilogy explores how easily people cross the line between victim and perpetrator.
Genres: mystery, horror, adult-fiction, thriller, psychological-horror
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, gritty, morally-complex, suspenseful, unsettling
Tropes: descent-into-darkness, hidden-society, moral-ambiguity, trauma-and-consequence
Setting: Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire, End House
Period: 2003, 2013
304 pages · Hardcover · Titan Books
Content warnings: gore, murder, violence