We are for the dark by Gretchen mcneil

They had me at “FBI agent turned Catholic priest.” I mean, come on. That is a premise.

We Are for the Dark follows Father Shane Ryann, whose past in law enforcement comes to the attention of his bishop despite being something Shane hasn’t exactly advertised. That particular skill set suddenly becomes useful when he is sent on a very unusual assignment: travel to a remote island off Newfoundland and assist local constable Miriam Rideout with a missing-person case.

And then things get weird.

What begins as a fairly intriguing mystery quickly veers into supernatural territory before eventually going full Gothic horror—and honestly, that’s when I had the most fun with it. The isolated island setting is wonderfully creepy, and Gretchen McNeil does a great job creating the sense that something is deeply, deeply wrong. The atmosphere was easily one of the strongest parts of the book.

The increasingly elaborate supernatural mythology reminded me a little of the later seasons of Supernatural. Remember when Sam and Dean stopped dealing with the monster of the week and suddenly they were battling over the fate of Heaven, Hell, Lucifer, and basically all of creation? 😂 The stakes here similarly keep expanding, and there were moments when I thought the story might have worked better if it had stayed a little smaller and more contained. Still, once I accepted where it was going, there was a lot to enjoy.

My biggest hesitation was the romantic connection between Ryann and Rideout. Considering that he is a Catholic priest, it felt uncomfortable and somewhat inappropriate to me, and I’m not convinced the story needed it. I was much more invested in their alliance as two people trying to figure out an increasingly bizarre and dangerous situation.

Overall, this wasn’t one of my favorite horror reads of the summer, but I liked it. The mystery is unusual, the setting is terrific, and the Gothic horror elements deliver some genuinely creepy moments. If you enjoy horror/thriller hybrids with supernatural mythology, isolated settings, and books in the general orbit of authors like Nat Cassidy or Monica Kim, this one is worth checking out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars

Thank you to DAW for the advanced reading copy. We Are for the Dark will be published September 1, 2026.