Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor (Case Laminate)

John Wesley Wilson

Book cover for Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor (Case Laminate)
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Book cover for Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor (Case Laminate)
Image for variant 9798999389336

Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor (Case Laminate)

Straight to Hell: Memoir of an Ex-Evangelical Pastor (Case Laminate)

John Wesley Wilson

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Description

If you were raised in evangelical Christianity and taught to fear that who you are could damn you, this book is for you.

Straight to Hell is the true story of a Pentecostal pastor who spent decades suppressing his identity to survive-until the life he built on obedience finally collapsed.

John Wilson spent his life mastering the art of disappearing.

Raised in poverty and abuse in the fire-and-fury world of Pentecostalism, he learned early that desire could damn him and obedience might save him.

So he buried himself beneath a life built for survival. He became everything a godly man was supposed to be: a pastor, a husband, a father. A man shaped for approval.

But secrets this big don't stay buried.

When tragedy ruptures the life he's constructed, the truth he's spent decades suppressing erupts-shattering his faith, his marriage, and the only identity he's ever known. Cast out by the church he once served, John spirals into a darkness he isn't sure he wants to survive.

What follows is a raw, riveting journey through collapse and rebirth-an unlearning of fear, a dismantling of shame, and the sacred work of building a life that finally belongs to him.

It's the story of a father fighting to stay connected to his daughters, of discovering grace outside the walls of religion, and of finding love that doesn't require hiding.

Harrowing, hopeful, and deeply human, Straight to Hell is for anyone who has lost their world-and dared to build a truer one.

For fans of Boy Erased, Educated, and This Is How It Always Is, this memoir isn't just a confession.

It's a reckoning. And a call to courage.

Critical Reviews

"Straight to Hell is John Wilson's remarkable account of losing his lifelong faith and finding his true self. With candor, insight, and emotional clarity, he shares hard truths without a shred of self-pity, illuminating the deep damage caused by rigid fundamentalist belief systems-and the generational grief, shame, and pain they leave in their wake. Wilson's story is a powerful testament to the courage it takes to say, "Enough."-Elizabeth Ridley, coauthor (with Pamela Jones) of The Dirt Beneath Our Door: My Journey to Freedom After Escaping a Polygamous Mormon Cult (Matt Holt Books, 2025)

"A vulnerable, generous, and impressively polished memoir, this story pulses with grace, emotional clarity, and fierce authenticity. The writing is vivid and image-driven, with moments of devastating insight. With memory as a central character and a narrator who earns our trust from the first page, this is an unforgettable journey of resilience, transformation, and truth."-Lia Ottaviano, New York-based editor, book coach, and content strategist; former Associate Editor at John Wiley & Sons

Publishing Information

Publisher: Lazarus House Press
Pub date: 2025-06-29
Length: 316 pages

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