Why we’re excited
As teenagers, four girls spent a summer at an isolated hot-springs camp run by a doctor who claimed she could remake them. They left transformed and never spoke about it. Thirteen years on, Nic survives an attack that kills the man she was going to marry, and she goes back to the same hills, now a spa run by one of the others, sure the past is involved.
Kate Alice Marshall is known for A Killing Cold and other thrillers about women and buried history. This standalone looks like a natural next step. Readers who liked Yellowjackets will find the setup familiar ground.
On our most-anticipated list since 26 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about The One We Buried
Kate Alice Marshall is a familiar name here: 5 of Kate Alice Marshall’s books have full reviews, averaging 4.0 out of 5. Our highest-rated so far is The Girls Before (4★).
At 304 pages it is about the usual length for a thriller release this month.
From the publisher
From the New York Times bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods, Yellowjackets meets Nine Perfect Strangers in a new novel of troubled girlhood, ritual, transformation―and murder.
Thirteen years ago, Nic, Alanna, Talia, and Jess were shipped off to Sanctuary Springs, a remote retreat among hills bubbling with hot springs. There, Dr. Elizabeth Sheffield―along with her enigmatic daughter Rachel―ran an experimental program for gifted but troubled girls. At the end of the program, she promised, these young women with their wasted potential would be completely reborn.
Three months later, the girls did emerge changed. They went on to be extremely successful. And none have ever revealed what really happened that summer in the hills.
When Nic is attacked and her fiancé killed, she retreats once more to Sanctuary Springs, where Talia has built a wellness retreat in the renovated facility, intending to bring a watered-down version of their "rebirth" to the masses. The group begins to flirt with old rites and rituals, but when Nic becomes convinced that her fiancé's murder is connected to what happened all those years ago, old tensions rise and long-buried secrets begin to resurface. As Nic confronts the truth of what happened that summer, she must decide whether to embrace the circle they created―or unravel it for good.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read The One We Buried yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
