Completed manuscript · Not yet released

The Covingtons

Name: The Covingtons
Author: Brandon Burnside

By Brandon Burnside · Nightgrave Publishing

Some families hide their secrets. The Covingtons feed theirs.

About the book

Behind towering iron gates and ancient oak trees stands the Covington mansion, one of Tampa's grandest estates. Preston Covington is a wealthy, influential businessman. His wife, Evelyn, is admired in society. Their seventeen-year-old twin sons appear to have been born into a life of extraordinary privilege—but only one is ever seen in public.

Jake is charming, handsome, athletic, and seemingly destined to inherit the family fortune. His twin, Ricky, has spent his entire life hidden inside the mansion. Ricky has never learned to accept the word no, and his parents have gone to horrifying lengths to satisfy his demands.

The Covingtons are hiding more than a dangerous son. Preston and Evelyn believe Ricky has been chosen to fulfill an ancient occult prophecy. They are convinced that the suffering of those they capture will strengthen him and eventually unleash chaos far beyond their estate.

One afternoon, eighteen-year-old Mel Hayes and his friends Krista Jensen and Dylan Kroger arrive on behalf of Forest Hills Christian Church to invite the family to worship. Evelyn welcomes them warmly. Once the doors close, the teenagers discover that the elegant house conceals locked passages, deadly traps, iron cages, and people who have been missing for years.

More than twenty captives are hidden beneath the house. Some were taken as children and have grown into adults without ever seeing freedom. A number can no longer speak; they communicate through gestures and sign language, and all have learned the terrible cost of refusing Ricky's demands. New arrivals are kept in cages for his cruel games.

When Mel, Krista, and Dylan fail to return home, their families and church community begin searching. As other church members disappear, Detective Sylvia Keene connects the mansion to decades of missing-person reports and photographs of children whose families never stopped looking.

Inside the estate, Mel must keep himself and his friends alive while deciding whether Jake—the seemingly perfect brother who knows the family's secrets—can be trusted. Outside, Keene closes in on the Covingtons' network of influence. With time running out and other prisoners still trapped, Mel must choose between escaping alone and risking everything to lead the forgotten captives to freedom.

Author & copyright holder: Brandon Burnside
Publisher: Nightgrave Publishing
Status: Completed manuscript · Not yet released
Length: Completed manuscript
Genre: Southern Gothic · Survival horror · Thriller
Setting: South Tampa, Florida · 1983

Release date and ordering information to be announced.