Description:

What would you do if the past showed up on your doorstep?

A woman who grew up in a cult must decide if she can trust the stranger claiming to have answers to the dark mysteries of her childhood in “a standout thriller with something deeper on its mind: how the past doesn’t just haunt you, it reshapes you” (The Seattle Times).

“I tore through this book and was genuinely shocked by its ending!”—Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines

For decades, the whereabouts of The Fifteen has been an unsolved mystery. All the members of this reclusive commune outside Philadelphia vanished twenty years ago, except for one: a twelve-year-old girl found wandering alone on the side of the road.

In the years since that morning, Ophelia “Lee” Burton has tried to put the pain of her past behind her, building a new identity for herself with a doting husband and seven-month-old daughter, Lucy. But motherhood is proving a bigger challenge than she anticipated. She doesn’t want to let Lucy out of her sight even for a moment. She can’t return to work. She’s not sleeping, and she has started spiraling into paranoia.

Then a stranger shows up on her doorstep, offering answers to all of Lee’s questions about her past—if Lee could only trust that this woman is who she says she is. Can Lee keep her safe, stable life? Or will new revelations about “the cult that went missing” shatter everything? In The Ascent, Allison Buccola has crafted a nerve-rattling thriller about motherhood, identity, and the truths we think we know about our families.

Review

“[The Ascent] will appeal to readers seeking emotional depth and strong character development. . . . This isn’t about the cult, but rather the psychological aftermath of that traumatic, ultimately isolating experience. And Buccola does a wonderful job of capturing that space.”—The Washington Post

“The Ascent is a parable for these days, where cults and conspiracy theories abound, where loyalties shift seemingly on a whim and it is all documented automatically—if not always factually—on social media.”—BookPage

“Allison Buccola flips the script on typical cult thrillers by zeroing in on what comes next—the long shadow of survival. . . . The final twist is a jaw-dropper, recontextualizing everything that came before. Gripping, emotional and layered, Buccola’s novel is a standout thriller with something deeper on its mind: how the past doesn’t just haunt you, it reshapes you.”—The Seattle Times

“Unsettling . . . People have long been fascinated with cults, and this twisty thriller will absolutely appeal.”—Library Journal

“The mystery at the heart of this novel is irresistible: How could fifteen people, all part of a doomsday cult, simply vanish one morning without a trace? The Ascent follows the only member left behind as she struggles to protect herself and her child from the trauma of her past and the dangers of her present. I tore through this book and was genuinely shocked by its ending!”—Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines

"I read this enthralling psychological thriller in one fell swoop. Every time I thought I would put it down, it sucked me back in and I lost an entire night of sleep. The Ascent is an intense examination of motherhood, trauma, marriage, and our fascination with cults. . . . I loved it.”—Jo Piazza, internationally bestselling author of Everyone Is Lying to You

“I’ve always been a hard-core fan of Allison Buccola, and The Ascent takes me over the top with one of the most cleverly executed and original thriller plots I’ve read in a long time. Buccola’s delicate writing is masterfully sneaky—her soulful young protagonist is holding your hand in the dark, then snatches it away as you race to the twisty conclusion.”—Julia Heaberlin, internationally bestselling author of Night Will Find You

“A knife-sharp look into the psyche of a cult survivor who hasn’t come to terms with the events of her past, this is a triumph of a book. Poignant and twisty, layered and tense, I was obsessed with knowing how all the loose threads inevitably tied together in the end.”—Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of Only If You’re Lucky

“An irresistible thriller . . . The Ascent is a gripping and fascinating look at life after a cult, packed with reasons to fly through the pages.”—Megan Collins, author of Cross My Heart

About the Author

Allison Buccola is the author of Catch Her When She Falls. She has a JD from the University of Chicago and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and their two young children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Present day

Theo wants to move Lucy upstairs to the third-floor room, but it’s not ready yet. It was probably someone’s office before we moved in, the walls hunter green, dotted with small nail holes. The thick white paint on the dormer windows cracks in places, old layers exposed. The house is a hundred and fifty years old, a Philadelphia rowhome, and there is lead in the paint, the pipes, everywhere. She’s not going to get lead poisoning, Theo says every time I mention it. It’s not like she’ll be roaming the room licking things. She’ll be stuck in her crib.

He raises the issue again this morning. Lucy squeezes a banana in her fist, smashes it against her tray. I sit beside her, watching. I am so tired that my vision blurs when I turn my head too fast, a sharp pain building in my right temple. She still only sleeps for two-hour stretches, and she needs to be held and rocked and soothed for half an hour every time she wakes.

“She gets up all the time because she smells you,” Theo says. He is pacing the kitchen, looking for something. He lifts a stack of mail and scans the counter. “She knows you’re right there. She’d sleep better if she were upstairs.”

“You’d sleep better, you mean,” I say. Theo sleeps downstairs but claims he still wakes whenever she does. He can hear her crying, my footsteps as I cross our room, back and forth. He’s already folded his sheet neatly this morning, placed it in the corner of the couch, his pillow resting on top.

He stops moving and shoots me a look that says that’s not fair. “We’d all sleep better,” he says. “You can’t keep this up, either. It’s not healthy.”

“I’m fine.”

Theo spots his phone on the table behind Lucy’s pink-and-turquoise stuffed turtle and grabs it. “I was sleep trained at four months, and I turned out okay. My mom said—”

My chest constricts. I set my coffee down, harder than I mean to. “I don’t want to do that.”

Theo blinks and looks away, which he thinks doesn’t count as rolling his eyes. He tops off his thermos of coffee and sits beside me.

“What do you have planned for today?” he asks. He likes it when I have a plan, when there is order and structure to our day.

“We’ve got our moms’ group this morning,” I say, and he nods in approval.

“You should see if some of the other moms want to meet up for playdates. Or even drinks sometime. Moms’ night out.”

The tightness is returning.

“Maybe,” I say.

“Fey and Niko want to get drinks after work.” Friends of his from law school. “I’m sure my mom could watch Lucy if you want to come.”

“You have fun,” I say. “I don’t mind staying home.” Fey and Niko and Theo mostly gossip about people I don’t know or care about: old classmates, colleagues, judges. Fey went to a large law firm after graduation, Niko works in-house for a start-up, and Theo became a public defender, but all three of them still inhabit a shared world that feels foreign to me.

“I just think you could use some time with other adults.”

“I’m fine. Really.”

Lucy has eaten some of her banana, and the rest is on her face and beneath her high chair. She claps her hands together, more, and I stand to get her another. Theo is still watching me, frowning, like he’s trying to make sense of me. I’ve been catching him looking at me that way with growing frequency: leaning in the archway between our kitchen and family room, studying me as I count out blocks for Lucy or bounce her stuffed turtle toward her on the rug. It’s like he’s realized he had me all wrong. Like he’s asking himself: Who is this person in my house?

“I can get the banana,” he says, and I hold it up, already done. I peel it, break it into pieces for Lucy.

“Do you want to take a shower before I head in to work?” he asks.

“That’s okay.”

“Lee,” he says, impatient. “It’s fine. Go shower.”

I hesitate. Lucy cries if I leave the room without her, a high-pitched, desperate howl.

“Go,” he says. “I can watch her for five minutes. She’s my kid, too.”

I go, because this is something we are “working on,” and I really am trying to be better, but her cries follow me up the stairs. I turn on the shower, but it doesn’t help. I can hear her even with the water running, and the sound cuts through me, a physical pain. Theo isn’t doing enough to soothe her. He isn’t reassuring her that I’m right upstairs, or telling her I’ll be back soon. He’s probably not even holding her. I shower as fast as I can, dry myself and dress hastily, and rush back.

Lucy has stopped crying, but only because she has tired herself out. She is whimpering now, her breathing erratic and hitched, and Theo is smiling, pleased with how things have gone.

“See?” he says, handing her back to me. “Isn’t that better?”

He gives Lucy a kiss on the top of her head and squeezes my shoulder. “I love you,” he says, but the look he gives me—pointed and intentional—makes it feel like a message for someone else. The person I was before Lucy, who he knows is still in there, somewhere, waiting to break free.

“I love you, too,” I say.

He leaves, the door clicking shut behind him. At first, his absence is a relief. But then it’s quiet, Lucy looking up at me, the digital clock switching from seven forty-two to seven forty-three. Now it’s just me and Lucy, the full day stretching out before us.

“All right, sweet girl,” I say. Lucy smiles and reaches for my face, her hand gummy. “Let’s get you changed.”

And so the day begins.

Lucy watches me from the family room rug—Theo’s mother’s rug, which she “gave” to us but still inspects discreetly when she comes over for our weekly dinner. Lucy is just learning how to sit; she is bolstered by a pillow and leaning on her turtle for support. I pack the stroller, checking and double-checking to make sure we have all the things we need. A blanket for nursing cover, diapers, a spare outfit. The baby carrier, just in case. My phone. My keys. My wallet. For the past seven months, my thoughts have been a series of checklists, routinized procedure, the steps I must take to get from point A to point B. I do not sleep. If something isn’t on one of my checklists, it doesn’t get done.

My phone buzzes. A text from Theo.

Niko and Fey are going to come over instead. They’ll bring food!

I sigh, but respond to the text with a thumbs-up, then drop the phone into the basket beneath the stroller. Theo means well. He’s trying to include me. He thinks it would help if I made mom friends, if I arranged coffee dates to “stay in touch” with my co-workers at the Academy of Natural Sciences. He hopes that if I take regular showers, and change out of my sweatpants, and spend increasingly long increments of time away from Lucy, I’ll emerge on the other side of this fog, my old self again.

Theo doesn’t know about my family.

I told him on an early date, drinking old-fashioneds out of a thermos on the steps of the art museum, that I don’t know who my father is. That my mother is a hippie, a little self-involved. I told him I went to live with my aunt when I was a teenager and haven’t spoken to my mother in a long time. “Estranged” was the word I used, and it felt good rolling off my tongue, like I could fix the separation whenever I wanted. As soon as I decided it was time.

That must be so hard, Theo said, his eyes glassy and sympathetic.

It’s fine, I said, brushing it off. It’s just how it is.

We had late-into-the-night conversations about cutting off a parent, about setting boundaries, about forgiveness, and there was never a good time to tell him those conversations were based on a part-fiction. So now he thinks what I’m experiencing—postpartum depression, he’s decided, neat and clinical—is a phase, a hormonal imbalance, something to manage and correct and get through.

I have experienced this before, and it is not depression. It is an untethering. But that’s not something Theo will understand.

“Ready, sweet girl?” I ask Lucy.

We walk, navigating the uneven sidewalks, driven up by tree roots. I put in my earphones and settle into the back-and-forth of two podcast hosts discussing the highs and lows of parenting. One has preschoolers and the other has kids in middle and high school, and their struggles—the negotiations, the school politics, the iPads and phones and friends exerting questionable influence—seem so foreign. I can’t imagine Lucy as a toddler, an eight-year-old, a preteen, and sometimes my inability to do so makes me uncomfortable, like Lucy isn’t meant to reach those ages. I have that thought again now, and I push it aside.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twists and turns

K.C. · October 25, 2025

4.0 out of 5 stars A page-turner

A.C. · July 9, 2025

The protagonist is plagued continuously by both of her families. At a young age, her birth family disappeared one morning. She is determined to find them while the police and her aunt dance around their suspicion that they are dead. She believes they are alive, and that they had not abandoned her.She finishes high school, living with her aunt, and moves on to college and marriage. In this second family, she has a baby daughter whom she won’t let out of her sight. She delays returning to her job. Her husband is rightly concerned and tries to convince her that she need not be in constant contact with the baby who, never sleeps more than two hours at a time and is frequently nursed.When a woman claiming to be her younger sister shows up and dodges where the rest of the family is and anything else about her life, the plot thickens, her husband suspects this woman is not her long lost sister. The many questions about Lee's strange life kept me reading.I thought I was reading a 5-star novel, but the ending left some questions hanging.

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!

B.H. · October 16, 2025

Incredibly engaging, beautifully written, totally original, and one of my new most favorite books -- and authors! I recommend it.

3.0 out of 5 stars Wanted to love it

S. · October 19, 2025

A fun and twisty thriller that kept me guessing, though the ending fell a little flat. I enjoyed the ride but hoped for a more surprising finale.

4.0 out of 5 stars Kept Me Turning the Pages

M.K. · June 13, 2025

I really enjoyed this character-based thriller, always trying to guess whether to trust the narrator or not. I was surprised by the end. ABravo!

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling and unpredictable page-turner!

K.F. · July 11, 2025

Allison Buccola's writing is sharp as the reader takes a deep dive into the trauma of cult-survivor Lee, who is grappling with motherhood, a strained marriage, and abandonment issues. Lee is thrown the ultimate curveball when her long-lost sister returns, but very little is as it seems in this book. Lee is not so much an unreliable narrator, but a courageous narrator plagued with doubt. The less said about the story the better, but the suspense and intrigue escalates right to the final pages. You won't be disappointed!

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down

W.B. · June 4, 2025

I started reading this book the day after it arrived and stayed up half the night to finish it because I couldn't put it down. It quickly hooks you with an insightful portrayal of the psychology of parenting a baby, then slowly puzzles and frightens you with the unraveling mystery of the narrator's past and whether it will come back to haunt her. The alternation of past and present story lines is seamless and effective. And without spoiling the ending, I'll just say that it still sits with me days later.Read this one, and read whatever Buccola writes next too.

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult/ true crime

K.A. · July 26, 2025

The Ascent by Allison Buccola is about new mother Lee, who is struggling to adapt to motherhood. Unbeknownst to her husband, she grew up in a cult and when she was 12 years old, everyone disappeared except for her, including her mother and young sister. This has haunted her her whole life and now there’ is a documentary out about the disappearance. Her husband is a public defender and is pushing her to get back to work at her old job, make more friends, and basically become the person she was before she had their daughter. Lee does not trust anyone to take care of their daughter Lucy, even her husband. One day, someone shows up out of the blue that may know what happened to Lee’s family and the rest of the cult members.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like the way that the chapters alternated between present day and 20 years prior when Lee was 12 years old leading up to when the cult disappeared and after. I especially identified with her feelings of not trusting anyone to take care of your new baby. I felt the same way when I had my son and I struggled with postpartum and giving up some control of childcare. The way the story wove in the popularity of true crime documentaries was also a nice touch. I definitely recommend reading this book. It is not what I would call fast paced, but it moves pretty quickly.

Really compelling! Five star read

l.h. · May 28, 2025

4 Suspenseful Stars

A.R.B.A. · August 25, 2025

My Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Suspenseful Stars🔈 Calling all Cult Lovers …follow me please 🚶🏾‍♀️Oh ,oh ,oh …this was our July Book Club of the month and honestly when it was put forward I had never heard of it let alone the author , but boy am I glad it was chosen , because I really enjoyed this one !The Ascent is an absorbing thriller and has this fleeting feeling the entire time , like your just waiting for the shoe to drop 👀The story bounces back and forth between past and present as we follow through the eyes of our unreliable narrator Ophelia who at the age of 12 years old was part of a Cult and everyone went missing …accept for her .Now 20 years later she is married to Theo and has a 7 month old baby Lucy and everything is blurred and her memories haunt her and play with with her head.A young woman unexpectedly shows up in her life and for the first time in years Lee( Ophelia) thinks she’ll have all the answers she’s been looking for and can put her past to rest , for once she thinks she’s found …Hope .It is from here we start to question our protagonist and slowly lose faith in her day to day capabilities and are pulled into to this crazy tailspin!This book held my attention the entire time , the timing and pacing of this book was pure perfection in my opinion and let’s just say I did NOT see that twist at the end coming !!Read this if you like :⛪️ Cult Stories⛪️ Unreliable Narrators⛪️ Suspenseful Stories⛪️ Good character driven stories⛪️ Dual Timeline⛪️ Shocking Twists⛪️ Unputdownable ReadsThanks for reading 📖 and have an amazing day Bookpals 📖

Visit the Allison Buccola (Author) Store

The Ascent: A Novel

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Rating: 4.2 (10 reviews)

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4.2

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Visit the Allison Buccola (Author) Store

The Ascent: A Novel

Product ID: U0593730003

Condition: New

4.2

Type: Hardcover

^AED156⁶⁷

Price includes VAT & Import Duties

Availability: In Stock

Quantity:

Order today to get by 7-14 business days

Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.

Returns & Warranty policies

Imported From: United States

At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.

Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.

Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.

All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.

Description:

Review

About the Author

Allison Buccola is the author of Catch Her When She Falls. She has a JD from the University of Chicago and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and their two young children.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twists and turns

K.C. · October 25, 2025

4.0 out of 5 stars A page-turner

A.C. · July 9, 2025

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!

B.H. · October 16, 2025

Incredibly engaging, beautifully written, totally original, and one of my new most favorite books -- and authors! I recommend it.

3.0 out of 5 stars Wanted to love it

S. · October 19, 2025

A fun and twisty thriller that kept me guessing, though the ending fell a little flat. I enjoyed the ride but hoped for a more surprising finale.

4.0 out of 5 stars Kept Me Turning the Pages

M.K. · June 13, 2025

I really enjoyed this character-based thriller, always trying to guess whether to trust the narrator or not. I was surprised by the end. ABravo!

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling and unpredictable page-turner!

K.F. · July 11, 2025

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down

W.B. · June 4, 2025

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult/ true crime

K.A. · July 26, 2025

Really compelling! Five star read

l.h. · May 28, 2025

4 Suspenseful Stars

A.R.B.A. · August 25, 2025

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