Everything I Didn’t Know by Nicky James

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It was supposed to be an escape. A new life living off the land.
It was supposed to be a peaceful community. A family.
But it was a lie.
Six months after he arrived, Bowie learned the hard truth about Oasis.
There are rules, and they are made to be followed.
The consequence of disobedience is deadly.
Once you’re in Oasis, you’re never getting out. And its cultish founder has eyes everywhere.
One year into his survival, with a plan to escape slowly simmering to life, Bowie is faced with a problem. New members have joined the community, among them a man who catches Bowie’s eye. Foster is attractive, older, and so far as Bowie is concerned, completely unavailable. This doesn’t stop Foster from flirting or poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. His reckless behavior will get him in trouble, but Foster doesn’t seem to realize he’s playing with fire.
One wrong step and history will repeat itself.
Bowie can’t allow that to happen and telling Foster the truth about Oasis comes with risks.
A fragile alliance forms. A budding romance develops. And more secrets are unveiled.
When their plans fall apart, Bowie and Foster find themselves in a tangled race to escape Oasis and expose the commune before it’s too late.
Rating: A-
Nicky James takes a short break from her fabulous Valor and Doyle series with this new standalone romantic suspense title, Everything I Didn’t Know. I have to confess to something of a fascination with cults and how they operate, so the premise of this novel – a young man whose eyes have been opened to the corruption at the heart the community in which he lives and who longs to escape – appealed to me immediately and made this one of my most anticipated reads of the summer. And Ms. James doesn’t disappoint; it’s a cracking story full of creepy vibes and slowly building tension that had me hooked from beginning to end, and although the romance does take a bit of a back seat to the suspense plot, it works given the premise, and ends with a very solid HFN.
A couple of years before the story begins, Bowie and his best friend Collin dropped out of college after becoming involved with a group of environmental activists. Both of them were unhappy in their college programs and had no idea what they wanted to do with their futures; the group’s message, the addictive energy at the rallies, and the crazy exploits of the group members appealed to them, and offered them the opportunity to feel as though they were part of something important. For Bowie it went one better – the people began to feel like the family he’d never had, and at last, he felt like he belonged somewhere. A few months later, he and Collin were invited to join Oasis – a community dedicated to environmental protection and back-to-nature living – and to continue to fight the good fight to save Mother Earth from the plague that’s destroying her.
When the book opens a few months later, we learn that Collin is dead after being caught trying to leave. With the veil ripped from his eyes about the community he’s come to think of as home and about the man – Father Wilder – at its head, Bowie faces a stark choice. He can try to run, as Collin did, and risk the same fate, or he can stay, bide his time and earn the trust of Father Wilder and his inner circle… and then make his escape more easily. He opts for the latter.
A year later, and Bowie’s plan is working. He’s risen quickly through the ranks to become one of Father Wilder’s most trusted followers, has even been taken under his wing. As one of the Second Branch – one step away from the ND (the Natural Disaster, as Wilder’s most trusted associates are known) – Bowie is given the task of arranging the orientation of the newest group of Oasis members, assigning brethren to each person or couple to explain the rules and help them settle in. Among the newcomers is an engaged couple – a petite, auburn-haired woman and a tall, handsome man a few years older than Bowie, with a chiselled jaw, stylishly cut brown hair and a fit body that suggests time spent at the gym or playing sports. Bowie can’t help looking (and likes what he sees), but quickly squashes any inappropriate attraction; the man – Foster – is engaged to the woman – Paxton – at his side, and that’s that. Bowie must have imagined the slightly longer-than-warranted handshake and the flirty grin he’d been offered.
You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.