The Bad Ones: A Novel

Ages 14 to 18

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Melissa Albert returns with THE BAD ONES, a supernatural horror novel about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical history

Goddess, goddess, count to five

In the morning, who’s alive?

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town's past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess that played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games. . . .

An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.

About the Author

Melissa Albert is the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of OUR CROOKED HEARTS and the Hazel Wood series (THE HAZEL WOOD, THE NIGHT COUNTRY, TALES FROM THE HINTERLAND) and a former bookseller and YA lit blogger. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the NEW YORK TIMES list of Notable Children’s Books. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.