A masterpiece of horror! A woman, Liz, reluctantly returns to her small hometown for her best friends wedding. The woods where the wedding is held holds bad memories for Liz. During the reception her friend’s daughter, Liz’s goddaughter, disappears into the woods and she is not the first black girl to be taken! Not your typical who done it! Themes of small town life, racism, the haves and have nots, and scary local folklore. Rich complex characters drive a well crafted tale. A perfect read for fans of early Stephen King or Joe Hill.

I was drawn to Jackal because I am familiar with Johnstown, PA and with the racial divide in small Pennsylvania towns. The book does give a good description of the setting and atmosphere of Johnstown.

I wanted to be more involved with the story, but I didn't connect to the characters well and the horror twist felt out of place as I was expecting a realistic reason for the missing women. That said, the book brings the important topics of racism and the lack of society's interest in missing Black women to light.

I was provided a copy of the book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I've been trying to find the right words to describe how I feel about this book, but I feel like anything I might say will fall short. Erin E. Adams is nothing short of a genius, and Jackal is nothing short of a masterpiece. Liz Rocher is the type of character that you'll root for until the very end. You might get frustrated at her sometimes, but you'll know where she comes from and hope that she makes it. I've said it before but small towns are some of my favorite settings for horrors and Johnstown delivered. The author manages to explore themes of racism, classism and more while introducing us to the supernatural forces that live in the woods. There are so many twists and turns, and I honestly didn't expect the plot twist. I'm usually good at calling plot twists but didn't suspect it, not even once.

If you're going to pre-order a book this year and you're interested in the horror genre, let it be this one. Jackal seriously won't disappoint.

This book was different that I expected it to be. I'm not sure if it was the synopsis or my expectations but it was definitely not the book for me.

While I did find the social commentary very compelling and enjoyed the idea of the story, the execution didn't work for me. The writing felt very distant and cold - almost curt. The characters never really felt fully developed and they all fell pretty flat.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful though!

Wonderful book! A very unique concept and point of view and beautiful writing. I will be looking for this author’s future books and adding them to our “auto purchase” list.

Wow. This book was an incredible debut novel. I was trying to rush through it to get to the conclusion, but trying to pay attention to all the beautiful writing. It was so good I couldn’t figure out how it was going to end. All the characters were so well written and the story was beautiful and horrific at the same time. On top of a mystery, it tackled real life issues. Such as the lack of attention of missing women of color. I can’t get over how fantastic this is.

This book can be read and enjoyed at one level as a suspenseful horror novel.

But it's so much more.

It's dealing with racism and what it is to live as a Black person, especially a Black woman, in the US in the present day and throughout the past century and more and it is not afraid to refer to the impact of Trump's election on how visible and prevalent racism is in America and touches on all of the injustices we've witnessed being done to Black Americans in recent years and historically.

It deals with the very real phenomenon of the lack of interest in or scrutiny of the disappearance of women of color in America. The book deals specifically with the disappearance of young Black girls and women but could easily be applied to the decades-long situation whereby North American indigenous women disappear in alarming numbers without any serious attempt by law enforcement to investigate or find them and very little interest from the media. Missing white woman syndrome is a real thing and it's put under the microscope in this novel.

It addresses poverty and class and uses the Johnstown Flood of 1889 as a lens through which it's viewed - both the event itself (what caused it and who it impacted) and its century-long consequences on the town.

It touches on the #metoo movement as the main character is a survivor of abuse but is afraid to expose that experience because she know that people - including family - will doubt her word.

As a suspenseful horror novel it's terrific. We're teased throughout the book with a range of potential perpetrators in a child abduction and we're constantly wondering if this is human or supernatural evil at work. Or both. The structure worked very well for me - historic disappearances are introduced and they're accompanied by a narrator who feeds into the overall suspense as we wonder who/what it is and how it'll all play out. In tone and approach these sections remind me of some of Stephen King's novels, especially 'The Outsider' where ancient and unknowable evil inserts itself into modern everyday lives. In between, the story of the most recent disappearance plays out.

This is a multi-layered horror novel that can, if you like, be read at a surface level but offers up so much depth and context which makes it so much more valuable.

Stunning jacket, by the way.

This book had me until the end. It was more of the horror genre which sort of lost me. The writing is engaging and kept me reading. Definitely a talented author, just not my cup of tea for content.

Content warning: kidnapping, gore, child death, alcoholism, domestic violence, partner abuse, fatphobia (challenged), anxiety, racism

Liz Rocher returns to her predominantly white town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania to attend her best friend’s wedding. She thought the worst she would have to deal with are micro-aggressions and passive-aggressive reunions with people she hasn’t seen, in some cases, since high school. But when the couple’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing in the world, what unfolds is a race against time and a horrific history of Black girls going missing in the woods every summer for years.

It’s a little bit The Ritual meets Hereditary on a community level, and a lot bit about a divided past that haunts not only the town as a whole but also the characters driving the story.

Liz is going on the unofficial list of my favorite horror protagonists. She’s resourceful and determined. She’s gone through so much but it hasn’t hardened her. The way her struggles with mental health are depicted, especially in the context of being one of the only Black girls in school and having a difficult parent, are so compelling. The relationship with her mother—fraught with perfectionism and cultural and generational gaps—really resonated with me. The love is tough and not simple in the slightest. There’s also the complication of having recently been broken up with while going to celebrate a relationship at a wedding. The emotions are fraught and thorny, though there are moments of tenderness, especially between Liz and Caroline.

I can’t talk specifically about the horror without ruining surprises, but the fears are very real. A Black girl goes missing, our main character becomes a suspect, the police aren’t doing all they can to find the child, and someone starts sending Liz threats the closer she gets to the truth. That being said, the woods around Johnstown are terrifying. The atmosphere is impeccable and the use of onomatopoeia and attention to what’s on the periphery had me tense. Listening to The Hereditary soundtrack while reading probably did not make me feel more relaxed.

It’s a book about emptiness, lack, and desire and how that can lead to destruction, either of self or others. Liz has a void in her that’s dealt with via running away to New York City and alcoholism. There are the gaps left behind each missing and murdered girl. But the book also addresses gaps in the form of differences. Adams deftly handles not only the racial divide in Johnstown but also the class divide. There are layers in each of the scenes where Liz talks to the mothers of the other missing girls. The focus, however, never lets off who and what she is, despite her overall perception of who she isn’t. There’s a self-awareness that not only permeates her characterization, but also addresses Johnstown the town as a character with a fraught backstory.

Overall, if you want to be terrified of the woods while feeling really hard for a community, this is not one to miss.