Prayer to the Dead (A Novel)

Five ministers are summoned to a defunct Georgia asylum to assess a new AI built for prayer—a chilling new southern gothic that blends religious horror with the tech specters of our time, perfect for fans of The Exorcist, Shutter Island, and The Devil Aspect.

For over one-hundred-fifty years, Gadarene, Georgia was home to the world’s largest asylum. Now, the massive campus of roads, dormitories, hospitals and cemeteries lies empty, silent . . . but not quite dead.

Jonah Corcoran used to be a minister. After the strange death of his father—also a minister—Jonah took up the mantle and preached the gospel to a set of shrinking congregations. When an unspeakable tragedy left one of his congregants dead, and a bizarre habit Jonah practiced in private was uncovered, he left the pulpit, and the town of his birth. But he never stopped thinking about Gadarene.

Lee John Cliffe, a gregarious tech developer and Gadarene native, was an inmate at the asylum when it finally closed down. Now, he’s developed an AI named Babel, whose purpose is to bring people closer to God. He summons five ministers from different traditions to assess it before launch—and he also calls in Jonah with a strange request.

As participants in this odd project assembled at the asylum, a dark history comes calling, and ghosts rise from unmarked graves. And from the bowels of a nearby data center, the new AI—Babel—stretches to unveil its true purpose . . .