The Neon Revelation - T.T. Madden

106 pages · Kindle edition · Timber Ghost Press, 2025

An Uneven but Committed Queer Cult Novel

This is a short, confrontational novel set within a closed religious community in the Nevada desert. From the start, it establishes a cult-like environment where faith, obedience and performance are tightly intertwined. I felt pushed rather than invited as a reader, which appears to be an intentional effect.

My dominant reaction was unease rather than fear. The book maintains a relentless emotional pitch, moving through grief, belief, sex and power with little pause. At times this intensity works, creating urgency and momentum. At other times, it leaves little space for ideas to register without reinforcement.

Madden’s prose shows real ability at the sentence level. There are sharp, physical passages that capture how belief operates on bodies and how devotion can feel seductive rather than overtly violent. The depiction of cult dynamics is one of the novel’s strengths, particularly in how care, praise and control blur into one another.

Where the book faltered for me was restraint. Emotional beats are often stated rather than allowed to surface on their own. Images and ideas repeat, and escalation replaces contrast. Given the book’s short length, this compression intensifies the effect rather than diffusing it.

Thematically, the novel is serious and internally coherent. It treats belief as an organising force and examines how power reshapes itself within closed systems. It does not soften its implications or seek reader comfort. I respected that commitment, even when the execution felt heavy-handed.

This was not a book I enjoyed in the conventional sense, but it was one I finished with clarity. Its ambition outweighs its polish. Readers drawn to queer horror, religious critique and cult narratives will likely respond more strongly than I did.

Advance reading copy provided by BookSirens and Timber Ghost Press.