Alone We Were

by W.J. Madison

SIX DEAD. TWO INSANE. ONE HALF-BURIED.

Talkeetna will be a fresh start for Jim Dougley, his high school sweetheart, Leah, and their son, Peter. With Jim's new promotion on the horizon, maybe it's finally time to leave the past behind.

But when a freak accident takes Peter's life, Jim is left to pick up the pieces of his broken family while Leah finds herself in a suffocating depression. How does she choose between Life and Death when both sides cradle someone she loves?

A year later, Jim finds himself sharing a drink with his brother, Nathan. It's been twenty-two years since they last spoke, and things are finally good—for once, it's easy to laugh. But the past has grown bolder. Talking, now. Taking shape. It is unwilling to die, hiding something beneath its surface. Something hungry for freedom.

A storm is rolling in, and the Vale is cracking. Jim, Leah, and Nathan will have to rise above their trauma and

Where Evil prevails, Good must follow...

396 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2025

Reviews

[Jayden Jelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite indie novels consistently showing me original and untouched realms in storytelling, not one of them has hit me as hard as Alone We Were by ​⁠Wyatt Madison‬.

I don’t read horror, but I made an exception for this book, and it blew my mind.

It’s not just entertaining. It’s real. It’s grounded in human relationships and tangible experience. It weaves together multiple timelines in a seamless fashion, without confusing the reader. It even taps into theology and the demonic realm — the villain is Belial — giving it the perfect balance of profundity and grisly macabre.

It is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for those who stay behind the line, never wishing to touch ideas they find too fearsome to grapple with.

But it is the future. The future lies in the small collection of good storytellers wishing to leave a mark on the world. A mark that actually matters.

And that is what Wyatt did with this book.

[Addie Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was an ARC reader so i got to see all the cool behind-the-scenes action that took this book from draft to final. the language, description, pacing, characters, and activity were all written with such intense care and delicacy, and i love how each character’s development is so unique to who they are. this book is so thought-provoking and includes many elements of surprise that it was impossible not to enjoy. i’m not even an avid reader and yet i was hooked from the very beginning!! highly recommend y’all read this amazing work :))

[cbl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who avoids anything slightly scary, establishing what genre this book is before agreeing to be an ARC reader probably would have spared me some mid-read panic, but I’m glad I didn’t. Blind reading this story really allowed the subtleties within Madison’s writing to shine. Alone We Were does not bombard you with violence or terror. Rather, its small town charm and compelling characters give you a sense of safety that is gradually eclipsed by the unshakeable feeling that something is off . Emotional, nostalgic, and just the right amount of creepy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Giancarlo Marquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting concept of a story.

At first I would say I didn't like the characters, that they didn't act like humans... but the more I read the more I realized that yes, they are actually acting pretty much like tired and stressed human beings.

The plot? It really hits harder the further it goes, it really gets to be its own thing and ends up being quite the good reads.

I did have some problems understanding a few things (my english can fail somethings, I guess), yet I got the overall plot and its implications, specially the climax and the ending. So, yeah, all good here.

Maybe is not the most shaky over the top action novel ever written, but is a good drama, which what I believe it really tried to be.

It is a great novel for a first time author. Kudos!

[permanentlyreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE END..im shook. Did I finish this book or did it finish me? This book is a great book!! It was more than I expected. It goes through greif, loss, family issues but also a thriller, and I just...they way it was written really made it feel like someone going through the motions of day to day life almost just speeding by. Also, someone go get Jim therapy. Honestly, get everyone therapy. I..this book honestly takes you (at least it did more me) on a ride. Just the lore in it, how everything built on something, how you got glimpses of their childhood, how you could see how it impacted them and how it plays into how they act now. It was so cool to see W.J. Madison write this book on Instagram and I can't believe I got to read it!!! Also, if you have the book you know what I'm talking about. The whole way this book came to be and how that sparked this book, I would have never guessed! Just..the way you can feel the emotions of these characters too!! I could honeslty rant about this book for hours.