Allison Wyss reviewed Jackal by Erin E. Adams
deliciously creepy
5 stars
I wrote about Jackal and a deliciously creepy POV: bit.ly/JackalPOV
English language
Published Dec. 20, 2022 by Random House Publishing Group.
4 stars
(9 reviews)
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with …
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.
It’s your turn.
With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Allison Wyss reviewed Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Review of 'Jackal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I wrote about Jackal and a deliciously creepy POV: bit.ly/JackalPOV
barbara fister reviewed Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Review of 'Jackal' on 'LibraryThing'
A Black woman returns to the flood-scarred town reluctantly to attend the wedding of an old friend, but is caught up in a mystery when a girl goes missing - and she learns she's only the latest Black girl to vanish into the woods, one taken on every summer solstice. returnreturnFor me, this was a mixed bag. I found the narrative voice compelling and the way the setting and its history was explored was fascinating. That said, I'm not a horror fan, and there is a strong element of horror and the supernatural in this story. Certainly the history of white supremacist violence is horrifying, and here the author uses horror to explore the nature of this evil. Interesting, but for this reader it didn't totally work. For horror fans, it would likely be a success.
Erin reviewed Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Review of 'Jackal' on 'Goodreads'
Wow, did not expect to DNF this one. I got to about page 200 before I stopped, unfortunately. So many odd choices from the author and the characters. Lots of cliches and heavy handed messaging. I was hoping for a speculative horror (which seems to be the part that turned other readers off), but it’s far more of a mystery where not much actually happens through most of the book.
