Straight to Hell

<p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>★ Gold Medal Winner - 2026 Illumination Book Awards</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>He didn't lose his faith.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>He sacrificed the truth to keep it.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>John Wilson built his life on obedience.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Raised in the rural Deep South-poor and abused-he found refuge in a fire-and-brimstone Pentecostal church. There safety meant conformity. Identity was something to discipline. Desire was something to overcome.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>So he did exactly what he was taught to do.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>He became a pastor-preaching a truth that wasn't true.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A husband-building a life on a promise that broke them both.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A father-determined to stay no matter the cost.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>And buried the part of himself his faith condemned but couldn't erase.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>For years it worked.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>When the truth finally surfaced it didn't just threaten his faith-it destroyed everything built on top of it.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>What followed wasn't a fall from grace.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>It was a psychological unraveling.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>And the question that remained was more dangerous than doubt:</span></p><p><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>What if the thing that saved you... was also the thing that cost you your life?</em></p><p></p><p><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Straight to Hell</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is a memoir of faith identity and the cost of choosing belief over truth.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>For readers of </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Boy Erased</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Educated</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Now a clinical psychologist Dr. John Wilson returns to the ruins to make meaning of what was lost-and to help others reclaim what was taken.</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Includes a discussion guide for book clubs and personal reflection.</strong></p><p></p>