Valley of Souls — A.J. Cooper

Millennia ago, the Sons of Darkness were expelled from their ancestral home, turning into vile parodies of their former selves: the ghouls. Once banished to the far reaches of the desert, their leader — freed from his infernal prison — now leads them into the heart of it, where humans live.In the land of Tadmor, an oasis in the midst of the vast desert, the king Javan struggles to maintain his rule. As he battles insurrection, his daughter vanishes in the middle of the night without warning. He tries to find her in vain, not knowing she is headed straight to where the danger lies, straight toward the heart of darkness.