Dark Rites

Something ancient and dangerous has awakened in Boston. When a series of brutal, seemingly random assaults leaves cryptic warnings about witchcraft behind, and a history professor vanishes without explanation, Vickie Preston knows in her bones that the violence is anything but random. Her visions—vivid and soaked in blood—tell her something far more sinister is building beneath the surface: a cult with roots in the city's colonial past and the willingness to sacrifice anything to protect its secrets. The stakes are deeply personal, and the line between the historical and the horrifyingly present grows thinner with every page.

What makes Dark Rites rewarding as a reading experience is Graham's confident layering of New England history into a propulsive thriller framework. She weaves folklore and the supernatural into the investigative plot without letting either element overwhelm the other, and the developing relationship between Vickie and Griffin adds genuine emotional texture rather than serving as mere subplot. At 256 pages, the novel moves with real economy—tight scenes, sustained dread, and a sense of place that makes Boston feel like a character with secrets of its own.