Revelation

Harden Campbell, the hero of Wilson’s enthralling thriller, awakens in pitch darkness lying on a dirt floor, unaware of how he got there. Feeling his way around, he bumps into a dead body. Then a light suddenly goes on, and he sees that he’s in a locked room with the body of Derek, a friend with whom he recently celebrated his 21st birthday. Derek’s throat is cut. Harden also sees a table with a typewriter; on top of a stack of paper is a sheet with the message: “Tell me a story.” Harden suspects that his psychopathic college roommate, Wiley “Coyote” Martin, is responsible for his captivity, angry that Harden was cooperating with the FBI to obtain information for the agency on Coyote’s shady activities. Harden types out a mesmerizing tale describing how Coyote took inspiration from a short story that Harden wrote for a class to create and build an extremist religion, which Coyote uses for nefarious purposes, including ruining the lives of innocent people. Wilson (The Comfort of Black) infuses his terrifying plot with intricate twists and turns, all totally credible. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency. (Dec.)