★ GOLD MEDAL WINNER – 2026 Illumination Book Awards

"Writing with candor, insight, and emotion—and without a shred of self-pity—Wilson reveals the deep damage of rigid fundamentalism and the courage it takes to finally say 'enough.'"—Elizabeth Ridley, Editor and coauthor of The Dirt Beneath Our Door (Matt Holt Books, 2025)

"Beautifully written, with vivid imagery, stunning control, and devastating insight. Memory itself becomes a living presence, lending the story depth, complexity, and grace." —Lia Ottoviano, Editor and former associate editor at John Wiley & Sons

What if telling the truth meant losing everything you love?

Barefoot in the backwoods of South Alabama, John was born into chaos—teen parents, a fractured home, siblings pulled apart, a mentally ill mother, and a childhood shaped by violence and hunger.

The small Pentecostal church at the edge of a cotton field didn't just offer hope.

It offered safety and belonging—but only if he obeyed.

If he conformed.

If he became the man God required.

So he became a pastor, preaching a gospel that left no room for who he was. A husband, building a life on a promise that broke them both. A father, determined to stay, no matter the cost. And he buried the part of himself his faith condemned.

For years, it worked. Until the questions he couldn't outrun finally caught up with him:

Why won't God heal me? Why would He condemn me for something I didn't choose—and can't change?

When the truth finally surfaced, everything collapsed. John was banished from the only world he'd ever known. What followed was more than a fall from grace. It was a psychological unraveling—a reckoning with everything he once believed.

At its heart, Straight to Hell is also a story about love—a father fighting to hold onto his daughters as the life he built to protect them falls apart, and the search for a self—and a faith—that can survive honesty.

Now a clinical psychologist, John returns to the ruins to make meaning of what was lost—and to understand what it takes to rebuild a life grounded in truth.

Narrated by the author.