Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks

by Benjamin Hale

“The damndest mixing of true crime, memoir, and maybe (?) ghost story I’ve ever read. The original Harper’s article gave me the shivers, and this deeper dive is going to have me looking over my shoulder on every hike. Unputdownable." — Patton Oswalt

With the immediacy and extraordinary feeling for people and place of Under the Banner of Heaven and Say Nothing, a compelling true crime story about two young girls who went missing in the same Arkansas woods twenty-three years apart and the strange circumstances connecting them.

This story begins in 2001 on top of Cave Mountain in the Arkansas Ozarks. A six-year-old girl named Haley—Benjamin Hale’s cousin—got lost on a mountain trail, prompting what was at the time the largest search and rescue mission in the state’s history. Her disappearance—and her account, after she was found, of the “imaginary friend” she met in the woods—would eventually become connected to another story that took place in the same wilderness more than twenty years a dark and bizarre story of a cult, brainwashing, murder, and the apocalyptic visions of a teenage prophet.

Enriched by Benjamin Hale’s own family history and the lore of the Arkansas Ozarks, Cave Mountain is a gripping story about nature and survival, religion and skepticism, and good and evil. At its center are two young girls, years apart, both in danger in the verdant wilds of northern Arkansas.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Memoir, Mystery

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2026

About the author

Benjamin Hale is the author of the novel The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore (Twelve, 2011), the short fiction collection The Fat Artist and Other Stories (Simon & Schuster, 2016), and the nonfiction book Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks (HarperCollins, 2026). He has received the Bard Fiction Prize, a Michener-Copernicus Award, and nominations for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. His writing has appeared, among other places, in Conjunctions, Harper's Magazine, the Paris Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dissent and the LA Review of Books Quarterly, and has been anthologized in Best American Science and Nature Writing. He is a senior editor at Conjunctions, teaches at Bard College and Columbia University, and lives in a small town in New York's Hudson Valley.

Reviews

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting and fascinating. I was impressed by the way the author explained the connections between both missing person cases and the setting was so detailed I felt like I was standing in the wilderness watching everything unfold. The lore of the Arkansas Ozarks made this book very interesting and the way the cases and the cult are explained made it easy to follow. Definitely an unforgettable book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Bethany Mock (bethanyburiedinbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

First things first…the cover got me. It's so dark and ominous and I immediately was creeped out even looking at it. I am a huge cover snob and this one knew exactly what it was doing. Knock it off cover designers. LOL. Anywho, I quickly realized it was a true story about a little girl who disappeared in the Arkansas Ozarks and say no more. I was double sold.

This was 100% one of those books where I couldn't stop Googling as I read because I needed to know if the girl was found alive. It ripped my mama heart out as I read so I cheated. HAHA. Oops. I found myself so intrigued and unsettled by how everything unfolded because it just seemed scary and so REAL with how it could have genuinely happened to anyone. EEK. One second a child is there and the next… poof, she gone. Just like that. HOW?!

Benjamin Hale does a fantastic job laying out the facts while completely pulling you into the setting. I loved how much attention he gave to the location of the Arkansas Ozarks. He really gave me a good look at what life was like and really explored the corruption, the crimes, the rumors, the haunts and the religious cults. Basically the entire thing just felt so dang eerie. I could picture it so clearly that I started feeling isolated and weirdly vulnerable myself. Let's just say I will not be hiking in the woods anytime soon by myself so thank you for that. Ope!

I also really appreciated the author’s personal connection to the story—it made everything feel more intimate! There were a few sections that moved a little slower for me BUT I think that pacing was necessary to fully understand the place and the time period.

I wanted to give a quick but important heads-up in my review that there is a moment involving a child that was genuinely difficult to listen to. If that kind of content is especially tough for you then just be aware going in.

Overall, this book felt like being dropped into a time and place I knew nothing about which I loved. It certainly was creepy and deeply unsettling. If that sounds like your jam and you like your true crime with atmosphere and history then I think this one’s worth picking up. Thank you, Benjamin, for giving me a outdoor complex and also introducing me to a place I definitely won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

[readwithmichele · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOOK: Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks
AUTHOR: Benjamin Hale
PUB DATE: March 3, 2026, by @harperbooks
PAGES: 304 pages
RATING: 3.5
GENRE: True Crime

THANK YOU to @harperbooks & NetGalley for gifting me an advanced copy of this! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK SYNOPSIS: Cave Mountain is a gripping work of nonfiction that blends true crime, memoir, & cultural history. The book centers on two mysterious disappearances of young girls in the Arkansas Ozarks, decades apart. The story opens in 2001 when six-year-old Haley, the author’s cousin, vanished while hiking on Cave Mountain with family, triggering the largest search-and-rescue operation in the state’s history. Her eventual account of an “imaginary friend” encountered in the woods leads the author to explore deeper & older events in the same wilderness, including a bizarre earlier case involving a cult, brainwashing, murder, and a teenage prophet’s apocalyptic visions. Through rich descriptions of place & personal connections to both the land & local lore, the book examines nature & survival, religion & skepticism, and the compelling mysteries that can bind completely separate events together.

QUICK & SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: This is a thoughtfully researched work of true crime that clearly reflects the author’s commitment to uncovering the truth behind these haunting events. As someone who considers myself a true crime addict, I genuinely appreciated the depth of investigation, the personal connection to the story& the care taken in presenting the history, the land, and the people involved. The sense of place in the Ozarks is vivid and adds an eerie, reflective tone that sets this book apart from more straightforward crime narratives. That said, the pacing was challenging at times. While the extensive background & contextual details show impressive diligence, certain sections felt drawn out, which made the book a very slow read for me.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The first third was tolerable but it was a challenge to finish it. I thought it went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. While I understand tying the disappearance of Haley Zega to the cult in the 70s it just seemed too pushed and forced. Perhaps two separate stories would have been better than combining the two with a deep introspective dive on religious studies.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for the advance copy.

📝 Short Summary
Cave Mountain is a dark, chilling true crime read that digs into a story with real weight behind it. The author’s personal connection adds an extra layer of intensity, and the whole thing carries that uneasy, can’t look away vibe that makes you read “just one more chapter” even when you really should be folding laundry.

Review
This one hooked me fast, and honestly, it started with the cover. It’s the kind of cover that practically dares you to open the book, and the story actually delivers on that energy. The tone stays unsettling in a way that feels intentional, not cheap, and there were multiple moments where I got that slow-creep feeling like… oh, this is going somewhere uncomfortable. What really made it stand out for me was the author’s personal connection to what’s being explored. That detail didn’t feel like a gimmick; it felt like a pulse under the whole book, and it gave the narrative a “this matters” gravity that a lot of true crime books don’t always hit. It’s not nonstop action, but it’s consistently tense and eerie, with that quiet dread that hangs around after you put it down. If you like true crime that’s dark, atmospheric, and occasionally downright creepy, this is a solid pick.

✅ Would I Recommend It?
Yes, especially if you like true crime with a chilling tone and an unsettling edge. If you prefer lighter, more detached true crime, this might feel a little too close to the bone.

[Ash.O · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This review is for an uncorrected proof obtained via a Goodreads Giveaway.

This was an interesting read, packed with information. Part true crime, part family history/memoir, part philosophy of religion, part history, and part personal essays, there was a lot of content in this book. Although it did follow a timeline, it jumped around a lot to accommodate multiple perspectives from different people and the author's asides with additional information and important context. I think the amount of information is necessary for understanding how everything came to be and how it all fits together, but it may be jarring and seem disjointed if you go in expecting a single, smooth throughline.

Things all come together, break apart, and wander a bit along the way. Given the nature of the topics discussed and the people and timelines involved in them, I think some of this is unavoidable and is necessary for the accuracy of the events. If the rise of religious cults in the United States, how search and rescue operations can be, and these particular cases are of interest, then you certainly won't be disappointed by a lack of information.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, @harperbooks, and Benjamin Hale for the gifted ARC!

Rundown:
✨️true crime
✨️two missing girls years apart
✨️Arkansas Ozarks
✨️search and rescue
✨️corruption

Thoughts 💭
This is a blend of true crime, history, and memoir that ties together two missing girls decades apart. I found the stories of each girl very interesting. I'm not sure if this would have been better as an audio for me, but I struggled with parts of the story. It wasn't even that long, but it was filled with a lot of background information on people, including the author's family, since one of the girls who went missing was a relative. There was also a lot of research, so you can tell a lot went into writing this, but those were the parts that really dragged for me. I found myself skimming a lot, which is never a good sign. I think a little more narrative and a little less background would've gone a long way to make this a more compelling read.

[Cheryl Elsbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was provided as a Goodreads giveaway. I thank the author and/or publisher for providing the opportunity to read this book.
Worth reading. This is an informative book that provides the story of 2 lost children. Both found, but with different endings. The reading of this book created thought regarding organized religion which sometimes is perhaps unorganized or at the very least controlling and harmful. At times I had strong feelings of dislike for some of the people in the book. My views changed by the end of the book with the reminder of the importance of influence of others, good and bad ,and whom we become in the end.

[Brian Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. A good true crime book that has a personal take as do many contemporary narrative nonfiction books. Furthermore, I was understanding his take on contemporary American religion and society and appreciated the background and sidebars on Rembrandt and the like. Some might find this goes too far out into left field, but it happens to be right up my alley. Probably because I used to play left field in little league.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for an advance e-galley for honest review.

Three stars is perhaps a little generous for how I felt about this book, but I did find the beginning part of the book that focused on the author's family, their connections to the area, and the disappearance of his cousin to be interesting. However, the later parts of the book were frankly a slog, and I was shocked to look back and realize this book is only 300ish pages.

[Serena Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the first 60 pages of this book were great. The story covers multiple criminal scenarios, with the first being the main one. I found the subsequent stories less interesting than the first. However, I did appreciate the vague elements of Christianity, which were included in a way that didn’t alter the stories being told.

[Gwen mitchel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cave Mountain is wild. It starts with a missing six-year-old in 2001 and spirals back into a 70s cult and apocalyptic prophecies. The way Hale connects these two girls across twenty years is masterclass storytelling. It’s got that perfect mix of skepticism and local lore that makes the hair on your arms stand up. Highly recommend if you want a book that actually lives up to the hype

[Catherine Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book. It's well-written, but the structure kept throwing me off. First, it was about the neice missing. That part was good. Then it went into a strange church/cult that killed a little girl in the 70s. But I thought it must surely be wrapping up at that point and I was only half-through! I feel like i'm reading in circles. Around and around...

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Inch deep, mile wide… description is deceiving. The author’s family history added to this story would be better in their own book.

[Davi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost me towards the end with all the very specific references to art and religion.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

True Crime besties … this one is for you! I’m normally an all fiction girl, but true crime gets my attention. There is something eerie about knowing that the story unfolding is not born from imagination … but really happened. And most times … these stories are stranger than fiction. Cave Mountain is a prime example of this.

The book features two happenings in the Arkansas Ozarks that are loosely tied together. Haley Zega, the author’s cousin, was lost on a hiking trip to Cave Mountain as a young girl in 2001 & tells a tale of an “imaginary friend” that helped her survive while waiting for rescue. Her story creates curiosity & causes a deeper dive into the area for a possible explanation of who the “imaginary friend” could have been.

This is a hard one to share thoughts on. The first part of the book was captivating & engaging & I found myself very much wanting to find out what happened to Haley. Even the transition to the past connection of a religious cult was interesting & intriguing. But not long after the entry into that second part, I got a little lost & a whole lot bored. I can tell that there was a hefty amount of research put into this book, but it was very repetitive & my brain hurt from information overload. Also - So. Many. People. I couldn’t keep track of ‘em all.

I do appreciate that the majority of this book was about the 70’s cult, but I feel the author had a strange need to use that part of the story as a vehicle to express personal feelings about organized religion … the good, the bad & the in between. I understand that his research maybe morphed into some sort of pilgrimage to discover his own personal belief system, and that’s ok I guess … but my preference would have been to skip all the rabbit trails & streamline the actual narrative.

Thank you to @harperbooks #partner for the #gifted copy!