Jackal, by Erin Adams

[rachelmanija]

Interesting, unusual debut novel about a town where Black girls go missing. Liz, who was from one of the few Black families living on the white side of town, returns reluctantly for her white best friend's wedding. Liz is incredibly abrasive and judgmental, especially early on, but you can see how she got that way. Unsurprisingly, she gets involved in a search for another missing Black girl - this time, one she's very close to. You don't find out until almost the climax whether the book is a mainstream thriller about a serial killer or a novel of supernatural horror.

It's both! There's a regular racist serial killer who's enlisted a supernatural... something... that feeds on fear. The ending takes an unexpected turn to dark fantasy that I really liked, possibly a bit too much because it made me wish the whole book had been more explicitly fantastical all along.

Overall I liked this. The middle drags a bit but it's such an ambitious, weird story. I'd definitely be interested to read more from Adams.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

makes a note

[cyphomandra]

I read this! And then forgot to write down what I thought, argh, but I liked the atmosphere and the writing, and would be keen to see what she does next.

( I am having increasing trouble reading books which revolve around murdering women, tho’, so it would be nice if it wasn’t another of those)

[rachelmanija]

Yeah, I would have also liked a different focus.