NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Melissa Albert returns with THE BAD ONES, a supernatural horror novel about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical historyGoddess, goddess, count to fiveIn the morning, who''s alive?In the course of a single winter''s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.Nora''s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca''s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town''s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca''s own childhood games. . . .An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.