Book excerpt: Sixteen-year-old Maggie is pulled from her high school after her mother begins dating a member of a small "forward-thinking" group led by a man who proclaims secret knowledge of life and death. Maggie begins homeschooling at the group's compound, where she is educated in their cult beliefs. As the group's leader becomes progressively unhinged, and her mother becomes more connected to the cult, Maggie must rescue her mother and other cult members from a horrific fate before it is too late.