Dark Fiction Auth
Book Clubs

Book Clubs

⭐ BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS — JAMES H. SUMMERS

Psychological Horror, Moral Dilemmas, Human Darkness.

Dear Book Club Members,

If your group thrives on dark fiction that digs into human psychology, ethical boundaries, trauma, identity, and the monsters that wear ordinary faces, you’re in the right place.
My novels are written not just to entertain—but to provoke discussion, unsettle assumptions, and spark conversations that linger long after the meeting ends.

Below are three of my strongest works for Book Clubs, each one unique in theme, tone, and what it asks of the reader.

📘 THEY HEINOUS

A disturbing, intimate psychological horror about compliance, identity, and the thin line between care and control.

Why It’s Perfect for Your Book Club

They Heinous follows a physiotherapist navigating gender transition, mental illness, and an unraveling sense of self. Their patients arrive broken. Many leave repaired. Some… never leave at all.

Opposite them stands an investigative crime reporter—sharp, hungry, and carrying her own scars. What begins as journalism becomes obsession; what begins as therapy becomes ritual.

Discussion Themes

  • Mental illness and the distortion of ethical decision-making

  • Gender identity and the cost of becoming one’s true self

  • Medical ethics under extreme pressure

  • Power dynamics between healer and patient

  • Predation disguised as care

Why Clubs Love It

This novel sparks intense conversation because every member eventually asks:
“At what point does help become harm?”

It’s dark, morally complex, and deeply human — ideal for groups that enjoy layered character analysis and psychological nuance.

Author Notes

  • Inspired by real conversations in therapy culture

  • Builds tension through intimate, first-person psychological unraveling

  • Contains no cheap scares — only human horror

James H. Summers
darkfictionauth@gmail.com
www.peggylanders.com

📕 FIRST RESPONDER

By night, a psychologist becomes a predator. By day, the city never notices.

Dr. Stevens works only the night shift, an eating-disorder psychologist walking the razor edge between healer and monster. He arrives before the sirens—not to save the living, but to feed on the dying with surgical precision.

His world fractures when he crosses paths with Karen, an EMT whose compassion hides a relentless, quiet brutality of her own. Their connection becomes a collision—part fascination, part fatal attraction.

Why It’s Ideal for Book Clubs

This novel is built for debate. It asks hard questions:

  • Is a monster defined by intent or by action?

  • Can a predator still crave connection?

  • What does mercy mean when survival depends on hunger?

  • How does trauma reshape first responders?

The arrival of ancient forces—Amalie and Chretien—adds mythology, history, and existential questions about control, ownership, and the cost of freedom.

Reader Highlights

Clubs consistently highlight:

  • The assault in Karen’s firehouse restroom

  • The Waffle House scene with the glowing round globe lights

  • The staged wreck on Mulholland Drive

  • The brutal confrontation in the diner restroom

  • The moral tug-of-war between predator and hunter

Why Groups Connect With It

Because everyone has a different definition of a monster, and this book forces that definition into the open.

James H. Summers
darkfictionauth@gmail.com
www.peggylanders.com

📗 SITE 123

A psychological descent into isolation, intimacy, addiction, and predation — set against the false serenity of the wilderness.

When Scott and Robin head into a national forest for an intimate escape, they believe they’re leaving their demons at home. But addiction, trauma, and obsession always pack themselves.

Site 123 traps two flawed people in a remote wilderness where the greatest threat isn’t the woods or the wildlife — it’s the human heart.

Why Book Clubs Choose It

This novel blends:

  • Psychological depth

  • Romantic tension

  • Nature survival horror

  • Addiction and mental health themes

  • Human vs. human predation

It asks:

  • How does isolation magnify emotional wounds?

  • How do past relationships define present behavior?

  • What do we become when our comfort zones burn away?

Atmospheric Strengths

Readers especially love:

  • The detailed, immersive camping realism

  • The contrasts between nature’s purity and human toxicity

  • The escalating emotional stakes as isolation chips away at sanity

Discussion Material

Site 123 provokes conversation about:

  • Substance abuse

  • Mental health

  • Sexuality

  • Obsession

  • The delicate boundary between intimacy and danger

James H. Summers
darkfictionauth@gmail.com
www.peggylanders.com