*NEW FROM MELISSA ALBERT - INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HAZEL WOOD*

House of Hollow meets A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, THE BAD ONES is a page-turning supernatural thriller about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical history - and one girl searching for the truth.

‘A gripping story of friendship and the supernatural . . . Albert’s talent for YA fiction is magical and undeniable. I was sucked right into The Bad Ones from the start, and on the edge of my seat until the end.’ Independent

A GAME GONE WRONG. A MISSING FRIEND. A TOWN OF BURIED SECRETS . . .

Goddess, Goddess, count to five. In the morning, who's alive?

In a single winter's night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town . . .

Nora's best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. Determined to find her, Nora discovers a string of coded messages Becca has left. These clues point to another missing girl thirty years prior and a sinister urban legend: a goddess figure, who played an eerie role in Nora and Becca's own childhood games . . .

As Nora unravels the mystery, it's soon clear there are dark forces at work in her town - and they'll stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried deep.

‘A masterful horror-thriller’ Laura Steven

'The kind of horror that doesn’t just make you check under your bed – it makes you check your own reflection in the mirror . . . ’ Ava Reid

‘Addictively terrifying’ Courtney Summers, author of Sadie

Praise for Melissa Albert:

'I couldn't put it down' Karen M. McManus

'Taut, haunting, and potent as a witches brew' Krystal Sutherland

'Every line reads like an incantation' V.E. Schwab

"Melissa Albert brings her dark, witchy, poetic energy to The Bad Ones . . . This pleasingly knotty mystery unfurls slowly and elegantly. A delicious read." - Irish Times

"A gripping story of friendship and the supernatural . . . Albert’s talent for YA fiction is magical and undeniable. I was sucked right into The Bad Ones from the start, and on the edge of my seat until the end." - Independent