I loved this book. My rating would be a 4.5/5 stars. My only con is that I wish the ending wasn’t so fast, I wanted more explanation for a few things. Also this is a beautiful cover ❤️

"Jackal" by Erin E. Adams is so much more than a run-of-the-mill horror novel! Though it is deliciously scary, with supernatural elements and lots of mystery, at its core this novel is about racism, classism, and fear of those different than you. This book makes clear that real-life monsters are just as terrifying as supernatural ones. Having lived in Western Pennsylvania most of my life, the setting and characters really came alive for me. This book is also gorgeously written, with lush descriptions of characters and setting; the author's words create an ominous atmosphere and chilled me to the bone! It's an astonishing debut and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Adams!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this fabulous book!

I feel incredibly torn on this book. I don't know what this book wanted to be, and I don't think it did either.
Jackal follows Liz Rocher, who is returning to her small hometown for her best friend's wedding. While there, her best friend's young daughter (who is mixed) goes missing. This sets Liz on a mission to find her best friend's daughter, but in the process Liz discovers a harrowing pattern--young Black girls going missing every summer for decades.
This book is beautifully written. Let me start with that. Jackal does not shy away from race, class, and gender, and I have many sections highlighted because of how beautiful and poignant they were.
That being said, the overarching plot is relatively simple, but the supernatural twist didn't really add anything to the story, and rather took away from it. There were chapters about the girls who went missing from Jack's perspective, which was highly confusing (as it uses the same POV as Liz).

This book addresses police indifference to POC missing persons cases, the small town covert racism (and overt as well) through the lens of Liz, who is a complicated person. She's hard to read for a good chunk of the book--and we're in her head, but as her story unfolds, her personality does as well.

I think this book set out to do too much--the combo of real-life horror and supernatural horror didn't blend well here as the rest of the book was more based in the real world.

There have been many books that have dropped in spooky seasons of yore that have leaned into mysterious happenings in the woods, unknown creatures caught in the corners of your eyes and all around things that go bump in the night. Most of these books end with humans behind whatever horrific deeds have ensued, never fully embracing the actual monsters in the dark.

Jackal is different. Not only are there real monsters both human and supernatural everything that goes bump in these particular nights are also tied to racist undertones that lurk beneath American society as a whole. This book was dark, poignant and resonated with me on the deepest of levels.

One of the most heart wrenching parts of this novel was the authors note and realizing that the vile townspeople who opened the dams during the great flood of Johnstown were real and made up some of the wealthiest families in our nation. These woods, these people this way of thinking is based on where the author grew up and is reflected in many of the cities we live in today.

This book is haunting and I am still trying to decide who I am more horrified by, the humans in this novel or the creatures hidden in the night.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc. This was a four star read for me and I look forward to seeing what comes next for this author.

Really interesting read. Covered everything from suspense, thriller, mystery to horror. From the description I though it would be more thriller, but a good well written book that was a little drawn out in parts.
Great debut book and I'd love to read more from this Author.
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, Bantam and the Author, Erin Adams for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was gifted this copy of Jackal by @netgalley @randomhouse and @iameeadams and I thought it would be a great add to my October reads! ⁣
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For the most part I really enjoyed this book. I think it had a good amount of suspense and “who dun it” added in. I was definitely trying to guess the whole time and was surprised at the end!⁣
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I liked how the book had the horror and the racism pieces blended together nicely. ⁣
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The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the add on of the “fantasy” aspect with the shadow. I’m not sure it really fit with the overall feeling of the book.

I couldn’t put this book down! In addition to it being a thrilling story, I appreciated the fact that it calls attention to how regularly BiPOC women/girls are victims of crimes and how we don’t put the same attention or resources into them.

Liz Rocher is grudgingly returning to her rural hometown of Johnstown, PA for her best friend's wedding. When Liz was a teenager, something traumatic happened to her in the woods, and as a result, she stays far away.

For the first three quarters of the book, we follow Liz as she unravels the mysterious disappearances that have been happening in her town. The story is an interesting whodunit, and thoroughly kept my attention. I really enjoyed the book up to this point, and I was constantly adjusting my guess as to who was responsible for the crimes.

Then things really start to get weird. Had this story stayed grounded in what could actually happen in real life, I would have appreciated it a lot more. However, the book veers into the paranormal and falls off the rails a bit. I had to force my way through the last few chapters.

For those who can suspend reality and appreciate paranormal aspects, this will be a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

Hidden behind a well-executed horror story, @iameeadams writes a story of continued racism, inclusion, exclusion, and a community with clearly defined class levels.

𝕊𝕐ℕ𝕆ℙ𝕊𝕀𝕊:
If you see something move in the shadows…no, you didn’t.

In the mostly white town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, children have been going missing in the woods for years. All black. All girls. Liz moved away as soon as she could but is back in Johnstown for her best friend’s wedding. When Caroline (the young daughter of the bride) goes missing in the woods, Liz makes it her personal goal to find her. As she searches for Caroline and the truth behind the missing girls, Liz is confronted with the hidden horror she’s been running from for years.

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

Simultaneously horrifying and enlightening, Jackal gives us a first-hand view of the added hurdles in the lives of people of color, especially black women, through an atmospheric tale of ancient folklore.

Being “good” isn’t always the best thing. Sometimes being “good” is a sacrifice. Sometimes being “good is losing your true self in the expectations of society. Sometimes…”good” is the worst thing you could be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Bantam, and Erin E Adams for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review "Jackal" Erin E. Adams. Immediately this is a 5 star 🌟 read for me. I loved this so much. It had a little bit of everything horror, Thriller, mystery. I could not put it down and was so stoked to come across such an unconventional story after finishing.
Our main character Liz just ended her engagement and is dreading going back to her home town but has been invited to support her best friend Mel for her wedding. At the night of the reception Liz volunteers to keep an eye on Mel's daughter who disappears under her watch. Panic insues as everyone is aware that the little girl has disappeared into the towns mysterious woods. Apparently the town has a history of young black girls disappearing in them only to end up dead and their bodies appearing weeks later with unusual traits that the local police have never looked into or deemed done by an animal. Liz desperate to help find her friends daughter and to solve the mystery of the missing girls unlocks secrets of the town and her own blocked memories. This book deals with a whole lot of topics (anger, fear, abuse, murder, race) and it's so well written. Amazed that this the first novel from this author! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more.

Liz Rocher didn't expect to be returning to her hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after being away for years. Growing up Black in a predominantly white town wasn't easy, and her mother has never pressured her to visit -- but her childhood best friend Mel is getting married, so she's back for what she believes will be a quick trip. But when Mel's mixed-race daughter Caroline disappears during the reception, Liz is drawn into the search for her -- and in the process she discovers a disturbing pattern in Johnstown. One Black girl has disappeared into the woods every summer for decades, and if these girls are found at all, they are found ravaged and disemboweled.

In each case, the police have ruled out foul play, but as Liz delves deeper into the investigation, she meets several broken families still seeking justice for their murdered daughters. As Liz searches desperately for Mel's daughter before Caroline meets the same fate, what she doesn't know is that there is something searching for her too...and it's been waiting for her for a long time.

Jackal is a brilliant social horror debut by Erin E. Adams. Adams herself grew up in Johnstown, and her own experiences add so much texture to the setting, making Johnstown itself feel like a character: alive and breathing darkness, gritty, with a complicated and uncomfortable history. In hypnotic prose, Adams weaves together thought-provoking social commentary with a gripping mystery, using elements of the supernatural to explore racism and classism in the Rust Belt in a very real way. Her symbolism is unashamedly overt but also feels organic to the story she's telling, and it's incredibly powerful and well-executed. Her writing is mesmerizing, with insightful prose sharp as a knife's edge.

Jackal is a difficult book to read, not only due to its subject matter and Adams' unflinching storytelling, but also because it forces the reader to face harsh, horrifying truths. This is a relentlessly intense read, a visceral metaphor for modern Black womanhood fueled by dark energy and barely-contained fury. It's mesmerizing, unsettling, and intentionally brutal, an incredibly impressive debut that makes me so excited to watch Adams' career unfold.

Recommended to readers who enjoyed Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester, or to any reader willing to face down the darkness and come away impacted and better for it. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
I did love the protagonists and how the author wrote about racism. This is a really strong and important book, and I was already super excited after reading the synopsis. And the mysterious and dark mood was definitely there!! Adams created a super thrilling environment. But the ending was kind of too crazy to me. It was a good plot but supernatural and I did not expect it to develop like that. But that’s just my taste.
But it was all in all worth reading!

This book is about racism, inequality, and a creature that can literally take over someone else’s body. The main character, Liz, isn’t sure what is and isn’t real. She must stare directly at the town’s racist history to have a chance at figuring it all out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

A horror story where the only girls who go missing and/or are found brutally slaughtered from Johnstown, PA are Black girls. This story centers Liz, raised as “different from other Black girls” thanks to her mother, who is racing against time to find her god-daughter who was kidnapped.

This book embodies gore and body horror, so it’s not for the faint of heart. From start to finish, I was deeply enthralled and really enjoyed the twists and turns along the way. A fantastic debut!

This felt like what could happen if the great replacement conspiracy theory turned to demonic sources to make the world how they wanted it.
This was haunting. The stuff nightmares are made of.
Liz Rocher is returning home after 15 years only to attend her best friend's wedding. When her god daughter goes missing, Liz finds herself stuck. Then she finds herself in trouble. And then she finds herself a suspect.
At every turn Liz is reminded why she left the town as fast as possible all those years ago: it's running rampant with racism cloaked in smiles.
As Liz looks for her god daughter, she starts to uncover an even scarier truth: Caroline is not the first to go missing. Every year for the last 35 years a Black girl has "gone missing". Yet the police have never suspected them to be connected. Is it on purpose or are they that bad at their job?
This brings together the evil of the world we currently live in with evil of the darkest imaginations. It was thriller meets horror meets fantasy meets real life.
A truly unputdownable horror story that is sure to give you the chills and likely nightmares.

Wow that was super creepy! This is one that’s perfectly timed for spooky season. The book takes place in rural PA where Black girls have gone missing but no one seems to think the losses are connected. Until Liz Rocher comes home, her niece goes missing and all of her memories fears and past come flooding together for a perfect storm. A hunt is underway to find the little girl while Liz tries to piece together what’s happened. Along the way we find out her history, learn more about her relationship with her mother and have interwoven social and racial commentary. I enjoyed the writing and found the passages especially by the male character eerie and haunting. I’m still not totally clear honestly on what the killer was or wanted but I think this would make for a great discussion pt as I think it’s sort of up to interpretation. Some people may want something more straightforward but I liked the uniqueness.

Jackal was such a strong debut that immediately pulled me in and kept me guessing the whole way through. I’m not sure which genre to classify this as as it borrowed from several - supernatural horror, thriller, small town mystery, they’re all here. If you’re looking for something spooky that also tackles real world social issues make sure to check out Jackal this spooky season.

I loved how many different ways this story could have gone. There were plenty of moments where the author planted clues as to who may be doing the killing, but by the time you reach the next chapter you’re second guessing yourself. Setting plays a big part in this story and the author did a great job of creating an unsettling atmosphere. By the end, every time the woods were mentioned I felt uneasy and knew something was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. I will definitely check out future books by this author.

After reading several Historical Fiction novels with heavy themes, I picked up Jackal as a literary palette-cleanser. Classified as a Mystery/Thriller | Horror novel arriving just in time for an early (and most appropriate) October release, I was ready for something different (for me). I wasn’t sure what to expect - and at the end - I’d say, I enjoyed the adventure.

Early into the novel, our protagonist, Liz Rocher, reluctantly returns “home” to rural, isolated Johnstown, Pennsylvania after a recent and traumatic breakup. She is there to attend her childhood bestie’s (Michelle) wedding and use this homecoming experience as a positive step in her rehabilitation to ground herself: manage her anxieties, rebuild trust and confidence in herself and her decisions. The mystery and thrills begin when Liz’s bi-racial goddaughter, Caroline, (Michelle’s daughter) goes missing at the wedding under Liz’s watch igniting a massive community search party to find the nine-year-old in the vastly wooded township. The act simultaneously resurrects folklore, rumors, and conspiracy theories based on the decades-long, string of murders and disappearances of young African American girls during early Summer.

Art imitates life and Johnstown like any American town has an ugly history where racists’ beliefs and ideologies were codified into law to deny rights and opportunities in employment, education, justice, health care, and housing institutions to ensure generations of marginalized citizens remained impoverished and underserved. Exclusionary practices and unwritten policies are included in the plot to build themes, theories, and clues to why things are happening and what’s going on in the woods.

Liz, the socially awkward, star-gazing daughter of the town’s only female physician of color, fared better financially than some of her contemporaries. She left town for the big city (New York City), however, as a child/teen she was routinely ostracized by both White peers for simply being Black, and Black peers who viewed her as too “White” due to her elevated financial status, use of proper English (not slang), different tastes in music, and a home address amongst White neighbors. A bonus was the glimpses at racism, classism, sexism via each character’s lens and their complicated interpersonal relationships: Michelle, a White wife to a Black man and mother of a biracial child; Liz and Keisha as two Black girls forced to compete to be “the one” because this town can’t handle too much Black Excellence; Liz’s mother’s struggles as a highly skilled and educated Haitian immigrant in rural, White America, Garrett (Michelle’s Black husband) relationship with his racist in-laws, and the black mothers of the victims struggles with local law enforcement to obtain justice for their daughters (this plot thread echoes the demands of the BLM movement).

Given the gravity of some of the themes, the novel does not feel weighted or preachy. The racial and social dynamic threads are integral pieces and clues necessary to bind the town’s history to the manifestation of what’s behind the girls’ disappearances and deaths. The momentum builds as the search for Caroline intensifies and the summer solstice rapidly approaches. Friendships are strained, odd alliances are formed, and the players eventually take center stage to release repressed secrets with unexpected results. I was turning pages until the end to see how things would play out!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

this was a delicious fun wild ride! i was on the edge of my seat the whole way through! I didn't know who to trust and honestly was back and forth on who the villain was up until the reveal!

Part thriller and part horror, set in a town where black girls go missing, Jackal will keep you riveted and turning pages. There are some graphic scenes that might be disturbing to some, so check the trigger warnings. There are layers to this book which makes it good for discussion.