The Girl in the Maze

USA TODAY BESTSELLER • R. K. Jackson’s lyrical, twisty psychological thriller follows an aspiring journalist who uncovers dark secrets in a windswept Southern town—guided by a mysterious outcast and hunted by a ruthless killer.

When Martha Covington moves to Amberleen, Georgia, after her release from a psychiatric ward, she thinks her breakdown is behind her. A small town with a rich history, Amberleen feels like a fresh start. Taking a summer internship with the local historical society, Martha is tasked with gathering the stories of the Geechee residents of nearby Shell Heap Island, the descendants of slaves who have lived by their own traditions for the last three hundred years.

As Martha delves into her work, the voices she thought she left behind start whispering again, and she begins to doubt her recovery. When a grisly murder occurs, Martha finds herself at the center of a perfect storm—and she’s the perfect suspect. Without a soul to vouch for her innocence or her sanity, Martha disappears into the wilderness, battling the pull of madness and struggling to piece together a supernatural puzzle of age-old resentments, broken promises, and cold-blooded murder. She finds an unexpected ally in a handsome young man fighting his own battles. With his help, Martha journeys through a terrifying labyrinth—to find the truth and clear her name, if she can survive to tell the tale.

“Enthralling . . . a psycho-thriller of dark secrets in a historic Georgian coastal town.”—Judith Collins Must Read Books

“A juicy, twisty thriller so captivating, you may want to take the long way home.' — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“A terribly entertaining novel … One of the best books I’ve read [this year].” — Cemetery Dance

“This scared the hell out of me.” — Laura Otis, MacArthur Fellow, author of Müller’s Lab