Liz left Johnstown, PA behind long ago but is called back to her best friends wedding. Johnstown is predominantly white and there are some underlying/not so underlying racial tensions in the town along with a history of missing black girls and a rhyme about the local woods warning people away.
This book started off as a typical serial-killer mystery that no-one bothered to connect the dots too until Liz's god-daughter goes missing the day of her parents wedding. Adams weaved stories from the view points of the missing girls, the presumed abductor and Liz together very well and had a nice paranormal twist at the end. I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick read that was hard to put down.

I adored every page of this and the only reason it gets 4.5 instead of 5 is because I figured out the bad guy way too soon. But everything about this is incredible and unsettling.

First of all, that cover is absolutely stunning. Second of all, I really enjoyed this supernatural horror thriller. It was such a fast read for me.

This book had striking imagery and kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved it!!! I will be buying it for my horror shelf for sure!!

Jackal ~ Erin A. Adams
Horror / thriller
A young black girl goes missing I. A predominantly white town. Liz is home for a wedding and gets caught up in the mix as the brides daughter goes missing. I tahini it dead a well written book but I don’t think it was the book for me at the time. I give it three stars for the writing and execution, but it seemed a bit slow.

A suspenseful and haunting social horror about young Black girls going missing in a small Rust Belt town. It’s dark and layered. It is a slow burn thriller/horror but the end is absolutely worth it. This was a brilliant debut and I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Thank you so much to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I started to read this a good six months ago. I struggled with the political POV being thrown in my face. I just want to read thriller and not be concerned with color of victims or perpetrators. Blackness vs whiteness. I just couldn’t connect to the characters. So I gave it another try. It is more than racism. It has many POV, dark read, paranormal, supernatural, violence, children gone missing and misused, cruelty to animals, racism, social classes, inequality, and poverty. An ending that is surprising. I enjoyed reading about Johnstown, PA history and plan to read more about it. I ignored the politics and read the thriller it is meant to be. I just felt there where digs to one race and begging for empathy for another. It was all over the place.

the violence is so deeply disturbing yet necessary. it's been a long time since i've read a book that integrates gruesome imagery with its themes so completely. really strong, really well done

"A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she’s not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .

It’s watching."

I was in just from these first few sentences of the synopsis.

This book was fascinating in the way it was written and the tone of it - I can't pin point what genre this belongs to. Part horror, thriller, mystery, suspense, with a lot of relevant themes about racism, poverty, class, violence, and fear.

This is one of those books that once you pick it up, you will not want to put it down! I feel like it's a great book to go in not knowing much - don't read the whole synopsis so you can just be in the moment and experience with the characters.

I definitely would like to see what this author does next. This was propulsive, interesting, scary, important and overall just a very entertaining book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bantam Books for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Someone is killing the black little girls in Johnstown. Every year, on the summer solstice, a black little girl goes missing. Liz, came home for her best friend's wedding. During the reception, she was watching her friend's daughter, Caroline. Caroline ran off and went missing. Liz is determined to investigate what happened with Caroline and all the other missing girls. I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning. It was a bit slow for me. Towards the middle it picked up and became suspenseful. However, towards the end, it was very confusing. There were so many characters, and it was hard to keep up with who said what and who did what. I did like how Erin tackled racism, sexism, and domestic violence. Her imagery was beautiful as well.

Decent read. Definitely went a different direction but overall engaging. A little whodunnit with social commentary. Would recommend.

Jackal is a story of a homecoming, tragedy and then a downright twisty tale that will have you by the seat of your pants. Erin Adams builds an interesting set of characters, nailbiting chain of events, and a story that will make you stay up too late to see what happens next.

This book is the perfect mix of horror, suspense, thriller, and social commentary. It takes a talented author to mix these things while nailing relevant themes. This book is not for the faint of heart and if you love brutal stories, this book is for you. I will definitely be reading what Erin Adams does next.

In Jackal we follow Liz as she is going back to her hometown for her best friend’s wedding. At the wedding her best friend’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing in the woods. As the frantic search goes on, Liz begins to unravel that this is not the first black girl to go missing in the tiny town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. All the girls are either never found or found dead with their hearts torn out. Liz is then thrust into darkness with the hopes of finding Caroline before the woods take her for good.

I was pretty disappointed in this one. The first 90% of this story goes in a very different direction than the end. I don’t think the book tries to fall into both the horror and mystery/thriller genre and that is where it struggled for me.

What I did enjoy about this book is Erin including discussions about racism and classism without pulling the reader from the story.

I think there are a lot of other people who would enjoy the plot, ending, and the characters. I would definitely give it a try if you enjoy thrillers with supernatural elements.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for my gifted copy.

This is the story of Liz Rocher, a Black woman who moved to NYC from her hometown of Johnstown, PA, and returns after a long time away for the wedding of her best friend, Mel. What happens when she returns is thrilling and horrifying and mystifying and ultimately a scathing, poignant reflection and analysis of the history of so many towns + cities + communities around the country. It is a story about individual strength, honoring and facing our fears, and trusting who we are. This novel took me in immediately, and I was with Adams for every twist and turn she led me down.

There are so many pieces I want to quote for you, but you’ll have to read I for yourself! Huge thanks to NetGalley and PRH/Bantam Books for the e-galley.

Erin E. Adams is astoundingly talented and I cannot wait to see what she creates next. What a wildly powerful first novel!

I found this to be a very strong debut. The characters are instantly engaging and the plot moves at a good clip keeping the pages turning long into the night. This is an author who I will most certainly continue to follow with her future releases.

This was an appropriately creepy book to read on a camping trip. ;) It verged more toward horror than thriller, but I actually think it would have been a very strong (perhaps stronger?) story without the supernatural elements. Overall, kept my attention and I was interested in the characters.

"Danger didn't need a place to hide, it preferred to fester."
Jackal is a debut adult thriller that is compelling with a main character to root for and past wrongs to right. Unfortunately, I found the writing style a little stilted and at times difficult to understand. The narrative meanders without any plot-driven action that you expect from a mystery/thriller. I still was intrigued by the mystery and needed to see how it ends, so I skimmed until around 60% where the book took off running and kept me gripped to the very end.

Content warnings: alcoholism, anxiety, death of a child, domestic violence, kidnapping, racism

eARC provided by the publisher for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion nor the contents of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and subject to change upon final publication.

I really enjoyed this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have read it! What a wonderful book!

It’s hard to adequately categorize this book. It’s part thriller- a small town where Black girls go missing every summer and no one seems to care. It’s part a story about identity, especially the pitfalls of “pick me” mentality that can exist in racist and/or small towns- (“of course we like YOU, you’re not bad like THEM”)- and where the line is between fitting in, keeping your head down, and outright betraying your ideals. It’s a story about violence in its many forms, and how far too often we place blame on the victim for allowing the violence to happen, rather than the perpetrators of the violent acts. And on top of all that it’s part magical realism, a story where you’re not sure exactly who or what to believe.
All I can say for certain is it is a shame this book isn’t hyped more! The cover is gorgeous, the writing was incredible, and the story was such a perfect blend of genres. I will be keeping an eye out for whatever Erin E Adams comes out with next, and until then I’ll be recommending this book far and wide!

What an astounding debut! While there were parts in the middle that slowed down the story, I was still hooked until the very end. I really enjoyed Adams' writing style, as well as how deep she went with exploring Liz's story, motivations, desires and doubts. She was able to balance character development with the creepiness of the story, which is always a hard thing to do with horror stories - bravo! The monster in this was very creepy, and reminiscent of many Appalachian tales I've heard growing up in the area - and without giving too much away, I enjoyed the twist she added to the end and what the monster wanted. The level of detail added in to the exploration of small town racism and what Liz and the other black girls have went through just to be heard and recognized was excellent and heartbreaking. This book is more of a thriller with heavy horror elements, but I'd recommend it to fans of both genres.