Savage Saints: The Broken Hymn

by Tuesday James

After the Reckoning, the South didn’t die.
It turned holy.

The world ended in fire, ash, and scripture. What crawled out of it wasn’t civilization—it was enclaves, trailer-kingdoms, and cults that learned how to turn fear into law.

Selah Crow has spent her whole life behind a fence she thought was built to keep monsters out.

She was wrong.

It was built to show them exactly where to find her.

When the Iron Gospel comes for her, they don’t come screaming. They come like a sermon. Quiet. Certain. Hungry. By morning, Selah’s life is soaked in blood, her sister is gone, and the only man dangerous enough to help her is the one every ruined thing in the South knows to fear.

Malek Vane.

The Crownless Wrath.
The monster the cult raised.
The man who doesn’t kneel for God, scripture, or saints.

Malek knows what the Iron Gospel wants from Selah. He knows why the Hollowborn listen when she screams. And he knows saving her might mean dragging them both back into the holy rot that made him.

Selah should run from him.

From his violence.
From his secrets.
From the way he looks at her like devotion was always meant to have teeth.

But in a world where prayers rot, monsters hunt, and men call cruelty salvation, Selah learns the most dangerous thing left isn’t the end of the world.

It’s being wanted by the man who survived it.

For readers who want post-apocalyptic dark romance, religious horror, morally black heroes, enemies-to-lovers with teeth, and devotion that feels a little too much like damnation.

414 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 6, 2026

About the author

I'm just your average mom of four. I spend most days hitting on my husband and concocting the next thirst trap in head. I've been an avid reader and writer for most of my life. Book's served as an escape from reality when I was younger and I find there's nothing like slipping into worlds we create with words. I'm fueled by 90's grunge, LOTR, tattoos, and Coke Zero. I have an emotional support chicken, her name is Frodo. I spent most of my childhood sneaking my grandmother's romance novels off her shelf. There was just something captivating about a shirtless Fabio embracing some damsel in destress while his long locks blew in the wind. I write characters who've dealt with the grittier side of life and still blossomed like a rose in concrete. So, if you read my work and find yourself connecting with any character within the pages just know, this was for you. Always for you.

Reviews

[Dayton]

I don’t even know where to start with this review but, here goes!

If you’ve read Tuesdays other work, do not go into this expecting the same thing because you will not get it.

From the first page the writing is gripping, it’s hauntingly beautiful, and makes you listen.

Selah is our FMC and she packs a punch! She’s fearless and she’s ready to fight.

Malek is our MMC and he’s only kneeling for one person now.

Our side characters are much needed and add to the story and give it more depth.

The plot is there and it has you on the edge of your seat with each page. The plot and the writing will hook you without a doubt.

The world that Tuesday has created in TBH is broken,post apocalypse, dystopian, with holy disguised as rot, and it’s captivating, it’s broken, but there is healing hidden under that rot. The way she’s created the cult like within the Iron Gospel, where they expect obedience and won’t stop until they break you. And then you have the Hollowborn, these are what I picture as Tuesday’s zombies in her post apocalyptic world and man I can’t wait to learn more about them!


She isn’t backing down and with Malek by her side, nothing will get in her way. The holy rot,

Thank you Tuesday for allowing me to alpha read this breathtakingly beautiful story.

[Samantha McJunkin]

“If you pull Gospel threads,” I say, “they pull back.”

Holy freaking ROT!!! This post apocalyptic dystopian setting that Tuesday has created is so different from her other books and so freaking good! Where cults are disguised by holy and silence is everything! When I tell you this like no other book I have read these characters are so intertwined and there is so much history that is playing out! Siblings, love, grief, rage, redemption, my gosh this book has it all! Broken Hymn is a perfect name cause this cult loves to hear people “sing.” Selah is our fmc and the feminine rage in her is real!
“Next time the world comes for me, it’s going to f*****g bleed for it.”

Malek is our mmc and holy hell is he intense and out for vengeance and redemption!
“Malek’s not a monster,” he’d say. “He’s just a man who survived the kind of hell most people never crawl out of.”

This is one of the best books I have read this year! 🙌🏼

“The Iron Gospel didn’t just kill. They made it holy.”

Thank you to Tuesday for allowing me the absolute honor of alpha reading this story! This is one I will be rereading over and over again! 😍🔥

[Nicole Johnston]

I received this ARC from my friend in my head, Tuesday and her agency. Tysm, bestiesssss.

Okay, I hold biiiiiiig love for Tuesday. Like, ride or DIE, gurl. But…. I am a little confusion with this one.
My unanswered questions:
1. Is this, like, post-apocalyptic magic or…?
2. Why is Selah the one they want? Did I miss the part where that was explained? (We do be libating when reading, so, don’t hold any of this against my gurl, ok)
3. Carter died, right? Like, they talked about it. So, how did he wind up back? Did I smoke myself too silly for that part and forget?
4. If Carter is back, didn’t he and Selah love each other? Is there about to be some bullshit go down in book 2 where Malek gets betrayed?!? I can’t TAKE IT IF SO! HE HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH DONT ❌DO THIS TO HIM, TUES!❌

Anyway,
Love and other indoor sports,
ARC reader of the world.

[Kathleen Lacoursiere]

Broken Hymn does not approach kindly, it approaches with a sense of poetry that interlaces with visceral, gut wrenching imagery that kept me turning page after page. Tuesday James builds a world where dread lingers around every corner, and the sexual tension between her MC's crackles along with it in equal balance in its potential to make you flinch. Selah Crow compelled me with her refusal to be totally taken apart by a world that knows no other way than to take. Malek Vane is a shade of dark that should probably make me question being into him...but I dont. At all. Obsession as a thether to survival that has to learn to be love, devotion that shows itself in him kneeling before one woman...yes. Please.

Review made possible via Advance Reader Copy

[Kirsten Wade]

I really enjoyed the unique premise of this story, especially the post-apocalyptic setting mixed with religious cult vibes. It created such an interesting and unsettling world that kept me curious about where the story was going.

Selah was a character I really enjoyed watching navigate this broken world. She refused to let everything around her break her any further, and I loved that determination in her. And Malek… intense and dare I say, intimidatingly sexy.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and thought the concept had a lot of potential. I do think some of the ideas, world-building, and writing could have been fleshed out a little more, as there were moments where I wanted more depth and development.

Still, it was an interesting read with a unique premise that definitely kept me turning the pages!

Thank you to the author for the ARC copy. I leave this review voluntarily!

[Julia Schwartz]

The more I thought about it and gave it space the more I liked this book. I enjoyed the allegorical language but sometimes it was too repetitive. I enjoyed the two main characters and their growth throughout the story. The idea of touch being something used as a weapon and a way for Malek to protect himself and then eventually show his love was very poetic. In terms of the overall plot, Selah’s purpose with the High Revelation was very murky- it was clear she had one and Malek knew why but I didn’t really understand why. I did like the plot but I thought it could have been done better. That cliffhanger though….

[Mala]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

⚠️Fair warning ⚠️
If you are religious, this may not be the book for you.

With that said, this was a totally different vibe from Tuesday James and I’m here for it!

This post apocalyptic story is not a thing of beauty, love has a small space in their lives now. It’s religious rot.

They broke and trained him.
They stole her family, thinking they’d claim her.
They were wrong.

This one took me a while to read, only because life is hectic and couldn’t find the time to read much, but so glad I finished.

[Ashley Escamilla]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

I went into this as my first book by Tuesday James, and I came out a fan.

Her writing pulled me in right from the start, and I loved the atmosphere of this post-apocalyptic world. The cults, the whole idea of them being “holy,” and the darkness surrounding it all made this such an interesting read.

Needless to say, Tuesday James has officially been added to my authors-to-watch list.

Thank you for sending me this ARC copy!

[Daria]

When Holy is a reason
So this story is long I kinda had to push through some parts. But yeah give it a read.
The main characters. A Picture of resilience in s storm trying to remake them.
Everyone is a potential sacrifice. Religion is the only answer in the post apocalypse town. Definitely put Jonestown to shame.

[Amber]

A wild ride for sure. Set in a post-apocalyptic world with some religious trauma. Selah and Malek were brown down in different ways. The tension and chaos was great. The character development and world building engages you fully.

[BK Reads]

Thanks Tuesday for the early copy of the book! I cannot wait to interview you on the podcast tomorrow, two girls one tbr ✨️

[Lila]

I really love how the story is straightforward and not filled with unnecessary dialogue or scenes. The characters do have personality and they have problems that they have to overcome.