Children of Darkness and Light: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the Story of a Murderous Faith

Retired attorney Hellis (The No-Nonsense Guide to Divorce) delves into 2019’s “doomsday murders” in this shocking work of true crime. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who were both raised Mormon, met at a prepper conference in 2018 and were instantly drawn to each other. Vallow, a blonde former beauty queen who was on her fourth husband, and Daybell, a married author of religious-themed erotic fantasy, leapt into an affair animated by their end-of-days beliefs and their mutual conviction that they were reincarnations of former lovers and leaders of the Mormon church. In order to be together and fulfill their destiny to lead saved souls into “the new millennium,” the pair “removed” obstacles in their path, including their spouses and children. Just 17 days after Daybell’s wife died under mysterious circumstances, the couple was married, and in early 2019, both of Vallow’s children disappeared. The details of how police pieced together the evidence implicating Vallow and Daybell in five killings make for grimly propulsive reading, and Hellis provides fascinating context about radical Mormon beliefs. Readers will be horrified. Agent: Max Sinsheimer, Sinsheimer Literary. (Sept.)