The Forest Demands Its Due

by Kosoko Jackson · 2023

Seventeen‑year‑old Douglas Jones has never wanted the power‑play of Regent Academy, the elite boarding school perched on the edge of a brooding Vermont forest. When a fellow student is brutally murdered and then vanishes from everyone’s memory—except Douglas and the groundskeeper’s son, Everett—he is thrust into a deadly mystery. Determined to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens an ancient, vengeful creature lurking in the woods, a being bound to a three‑century‑old debt that threatens to swallow the town of Winslow in darkness. As he grapples with the seductive lure of power, Douglas must decide whether to become the very force that corrupts everything he seeks to escape. A fast‑paced blend of dark academia, horror, and queer coming‑of‑age, this novel will grip fans of high‑stakes mystery and supernatural suspense.