Overview

Gothic spires, ancient secrets, and a forbidden love that could be their salvation… or their doom.

Dina Kaplan, a brilliant scholarship student from Brooklyn, has clawed her way into the elite, ivy-draped world of the Altschul Institute. She came for the knowledge, for a chance to prove herself among the world’s most revered scholars of Jewish studies. But when a fellow student is found crushed to death in the library stacks, Dina realizes the price of admission might be more than she can pay.

The official story is a tragic accident. Dina’s gut screams it’s a lie.

Her only rival for the top of the class is Rebekah de Winter—an impossibly wealthy, effortlessly brilliant heiress who navigates Altschul’s hallowed halls with an unnerving, proprietary grace. Drawn into a secret society by the charismatic and manipulative Professor Alistair Finch, the two women are forced into an uneasy alliance, their intellectual rivalry simmering into a dangerous obsession.

But the secrets Altschul hides are not merely academic. A restless spirit—a dybbuk—haunts Dina’s waking moments, whispering of a forgotten student named Sarah. And deep in the institute’s subterranean chambers, a monstrous Golem, crafted from forbidden rituals and animated by a perversion of sacred knowledge, stands guard.

Now hunted by their own mentor and his monstrous creation, Dina and Rebekah must unravel a decades-old murder. As they descend into the heart of the institute's corruption, their desperate search for the truth ignites a passion that is as terrifying as it is undeniable. They are no longer rivals, but co-conspirators in a battle for their lives, their love, and their very souls.

This book is a complete, standalone novel perfect for readers who crave:

Atmospheric Dark Academia and Gothic Horror

A Passionate, High-Stakes Enemies to Lovers Sapphic Romance

Supernatural Mysteries Steeped in Jewish Mysticism and Folklore

Forbidden Knowledge, Secret Societies, and Ancient Rituals

Perfect for fans of The Secret History, Gideon the Ninth, and Mexican Gothic. One-click now to enter the shadows of the Altschul Institute, if you dare.