An anthropologist from Indiana travels to Utah to do some research. Shortly after he arrives he is abducted by a cult that has forged their own secret society in a ghost town. This researcher, his name is Norman, then becomes a member of this group that resides in the ruins of a place they call Jacobyville.
In this novel "Ghosts of the Desert" Ryan Ireland has distilled some frightening moments he had once in the desert into some thoroughly creepy fiction. His story is peopled with bizarre characters. The level of morbid violence being perpetrated here can be chilling. We want to feel sorry for Norman but that doesn't last very long. Norman discovers he has found some kindred spirits and in the end he proves to be the greatest monster of them all.