The Incendiaries is a 2018 novel by R. O. Kwon, published by Riverhead Books. The novel was inspired by Kwon's own loss of faith in God at the age of 17, and it took her 10 years to finish.The novel follows a young woman who is indoctrinated into a cult on her campus as told by three characters: Phoebe Lin, the woman who is recruited, John Leal, the man who recruits her, and Will Kendall, a fellow student who loves Phoebe and struggles to understand her choices.