Adam Nevill's The Ritual is an August Derleth Award winner.
It was the dead thing they found hanging from a tree that changed the trip beyond recognition.
When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise.
A shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, things couldn't possibly get any worse.
But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the floors. The residue of old rites for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. And as the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn't come easy among these ancient trees . . . Adam Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is the author of the supernatural horror novels including Banquet for the Damned, Apartment 16, House of Small Shadows, No One Gets Out Alive and Lost Girl as well as The Ritual and Last Days which both won The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel, and the RUSA for Best in Category: Horror. Adam lives in Birmingham, England. From Britain's 'master of horror', Adam Nevill, comes The Ritual, winner of the August Derleth Award and perfect for fans of Stephen King. In the forests of Scandinavia, an ancient presence starts its nightmare hunt once again . . .
