The Bad Ones

A Novel

By: Melissa Albert

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Long-listed, NPR Best Book of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, 2024

"Emma Galvin's chilling narration will draw listeners into a small town where four people have mysteriously vanished."—AudioFile

New York Times best-selling 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 across a small town.

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 of forgotten origins who 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2024 Melissa Albert (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“The romance is subtle but sweet, the supernatural creep factor is extreme, and there are secrets aplenty in this compelling and eerie tale.”—BOOKLIST, starred review

“Unholy, vengeful, and utterly captivating. THE BAD ONES delivers on Melissa Albert’s status as a modern horror master, and burns with a steady, corrosive clarity, not unlike a developing photograph revealing unseen evils.”—Ryan La Sala, author of THE HONEYS

“A deliciously dark and twisted labyrinth of a book from the master of YA horror. Peopled with some of the most believable teenage characters I've read, and full of the fervor and sharp edges of teen girl friendships, THE BAD ONES had me hooked until the very last page.”—Heather Fawcett, author of EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES

The bad ones

I loved this book performance was amazing and the story was very well bfdxb tdgjg tight yfcju

Meh

The plot was really interesting but it fell flat. It starts off really slow but in the end, I still was not satisfied. Most of the time I was going in and out of the audio book because it felt like main character would just talk and talk and nothing really wouldn’t happen. I also feel like the narrator did not do a good job of with telling the story and differentiating all the characters, sometimes I couldn’t tell who was talking. But that’s just my opinion!

Wow

Every moment was enthralling. This book stole me away and I honestly didn’t see the ending coming until I was upon it. Uhhh so good.

Eerie, mysterious, hooks you right away

the story was a bit slow at first, but the sense of mystery and creepiness kept me coming back. Very creepy story work a twist I didn't expect!

Entertaining for adults too

I was unaware that this was a YA book initially, however, the story was so engaging and unique it kept me interested to the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed it.