Moon Mountain - Jess Porto

Though the honey produced in this charming Southern town dances with heavenly sweetness, its fragrant allure hides an otherworldly secret just as deadly as poison.

In the fall of 1997, Morgan Thomas has just started her senior year at Clarkes College in the quiet town of Moon Mountain, North Carolina, and is preparing for a memorable Halloween party with her best friend, Sheridan. But as the night unfolds under a full moon, her world begins to crumble when a chance encounter with a masked stranger unsettles her. Then, in the dead of night, she wakes up on the forest floor, confused and disoriented, with no memory of how she got there. As her senses gradually return, a creature lurking among the treetops forces her to run for her life.

She safely finds her way home, but soon becomes plagued by recurring dreams of an eerie woodland. And when the friend who hosted the party is found brutally murdered soon afterward, fragments of a shrouded mystery surface, hinting at Morgan's possible involvement. Yet her memory remains elusive, forcing her to question her sanity and wonder if these events are somehow connected.

As deeper secrets emerge-including unscrupulous revelations about Sheridan's powerful and clandestine family, the Gallaghers-Morgan soon finds herself an unwitting pawn in a sinister plot. All the while, a captivating and tenacious detective pursues her, and her quest for answers quickly becomes a fight for survival in a world darker than she ever imagined.

Immerse yourself in Porto's dark and captivating trilogy. Best read in order, Moon Mountain begins as a mysterious, slow-burning thriller with hints of the supernatural. It ends on a cliffhanger, setting the stage for the mind-bending, adrenaline-charged sequel, Isle of Stars, which delves into the urban sci-fi and fantasy realm, culminating in the heart-stopping, horror-filled finale in The Shadow Tree.