Haunting Adeline is a dark romance thriller written by H. D. Carlton, an international bestselling author who specializes in dark romance novels. Carlton has a reputation for crafting morally ambiguous characters that often intrigue or anger readers, and Haunting Adeline is an example of this kind of work. Haunting Adeline was originally self-published by Carlton in 2021. In addition to dark romance, the novel has elements of murder mystery, thriller, and psychological suspense that serve to build up the darkness and tension of the romantic elements in the narrative. Haunting Adeline is the first book of The Cat and Mouse Duet series, which includes Book 2, Hunting Adeline (2022), and a prequel, Satan’s Affair (2021). Haunting Adeline was initially banned from Amazon books due to the trigger warnings presented in the beginning of the book. It has since developed a following on social media, most notably TikTok, specifically BookTok. Despite criticism regarding Carlton’s presentation of sexual assault and graphic scenes of both violence and sexuality, Haunting Adeline, Satan’s Affair, and Hunting Adeline are largely successful.

Haunting Adeline follows Adeline Reilly, a young author who has recently moved into her family’s home in Washington state following the death of her grandmother. She is stalked by Zade Meadows, the leader of an underground organization, Z, which aims to end human trafficking. With the help of her friend Daya, Adeline uncovers the secrets of her new home, Parsons Manor, and the murder of her great-grandmother, Gigi, all while trying to keep Zade at an arm’s length. The novel includes themes of The Distinction Between Consent and Arousal, as Zade and Adeline navigate instances of sexual assault, The Balance of Morality in Determining Character, regarding Zade’s moral ambiguity, and Performance as a Means of Deception, both regarding the criminals that Zade tracks and Zade himself.

This guide uses the 2021 Kindle e-book second edition of the text, published in August 2021 by H. D. Carlton.

Content Warning: This novel includes graphic depictions of violence, sexual assault, rape, stalking, child trafficking, pedophilia, and child sacrifice as well as references to domestic abuse, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), all of which are discussed in this guide. The book also parallels many elements of contemporary conspiracy theories, such as those of Q Anon, which have been linked to racism, sexism, and antisemitism. The author’s note denies any association with these groups.

Plot Summary

Following the death of Adeline’s grandmother, Serafina, Adeline moves back to Washington where she grew up, choosing to live in Serafina’s home, Parsons Manor. Her mother, Sarina, opposes this decision, but Adeline loves the Gothic, Victorian style of Parsons Manor, and she also wants to feel close to her grandmother. Adeline is a successful young author and can work on her writing at her leisure. Soon after moving to Parsons Manor, Adeline discovers that she has a stalker, as someone keeps breaking into her home and leaving her roses. Her friend, Daya, tries to support Adeline by inviting her out to a club, and Adeline ends up bringing a man named Arch home with her. This infuriates the stalker, who captures, tortures, and kills Arch, sending Adeline Arch’s severed hands as a gift and as evidence of his possessive nature. Adeline finds her the diaries of her great-grandmother Gigi in a hidden safe, and she begins an investigation into Gigi’s death. Gigi was murdered in the 1940s, but her killer has never been found. Her investigation is complicated by Gigi’s past, as Gigi was stalked by a man named Ronaldo, with whom she eventually fell in love. Adeline’s stalker begins sexually assaulting her, breaking into her home, and following her in public.

The novel is written from the split perspectives of Adeline and Zade, her stalker. Adeline’s sections are labeled “The Manipulator” while Zade’s are labeled “The Shadow.” Zade’s name is not revealed until later in the novel, and his organization, Z, is an underground operation aiming to end human trafficking. Much of Zade’s work involves infiltrating trafficking rings to save their victims, and his sections tell how he becomes obsessed with Adeline. He is conflicted about his actions with Adeline, as he is morally opposed to the abuses perpetrated by traffickers, and yet he finds himself abusing Adeline, nonetheless. Zade’s personal goal in the novel is to uncover and stop the rituals committed by the Society, an elite group of politicians and notable figures who murder children to gain favor with the cosmic deities they worship. As Zade continues to assault Adeline, he hopes that she will fall in love with him, and he quickly becomes Adeline’s protector in addition to her stalker.

Zade and Adeline come together to investigate Mark Williams, a senator involved in the Society who happens to be the son of Gigi and her husband’s best friend, Frank Williams. The two attend a party at Mark’s home though they are not able to find the answers they are looking for. However, as Satan’s Affair, a haunted house fair, arrives in town, Adeline and Zade find themselves continuing their investigations as Mark threatens to kidnap Adeline. Befriending a young woman named Sybil, Zade tortures and kills Mark and three other Society members, locating their base of operations and planning to infiltrate it. During this time, Adeline and Zade’s relationship develops, and Adeline becomes a willing participant in their intimacy, which may be attributable to Stockholm Syndrome, a process through with abuse victims fall in love with their abusers. Zade also becomes Adeline’s personal trainer, teaching her self-defense techniques to protect herself if she is targeted by the Society.

Zade befriends another Society member, Daniel Boveri, and uses this connection to infiltrate the society. Using the resources of Z, Zade saves a victim destined for the Society’s blood ritual, and he secures an initiation for himself into the Society. Adeline and Daya solve Gigi’s murder mystery, finding out that Frank killed Gigi, not John (her husband) or Ronaldo as they had previously suspected. Adeline discovers that the final break in the case was supplied by her mother, Sarina, and she finds that her grandmother, Serafina, covered up the murder to protect herself from Frank’s wrath. At the end of the novel, Zade’s infiltration of the Society is thwarted by an unknown figure, and Adeline is kidnapped by a friend of Arch’s looking to get revenge for Arch’s death.