thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jackal is a book with several facets, and it was not until I finished the book that I think I fairly untangled them, to (I hope) understand what was going on.

Liz, the protagonist, is a 30 something Black woman, who grew up in Johnstown, PA, but moved to NY as quickly as possible, once grown. We know right away that she had a traumatic experience in high school, and also that she had few friends or social relationships. Her mother still lives there, she has just broken up with her fiance, and she returns for her best friend's wedding. Right from the beginning, she's jumpy and nervous. Then, at the wedding, the bride's daughter, Caroline, goes missing.

As Liz tries to find Caroline, she discovers more about the history of the town, and the fact that a young Black girl has gone missing every June for years. Caroline has a black father, so presumably this could be enough to put her in the chain of events. And one of the events happened when Liz was in high school, when it was "the other Black girl" who was abducted and killed.

But this story is not a straighforward crime story - it is clear that there is a heavy strain of racism in the town, and that this has critically affected the investigation (or lack thereof) of the other missing girls. We also find out that Liz is not necessarily a straightforward, reliable narrator, in part because she's a heavy drinker. And, there's a horror component to this as well, with a creature in the woods which appears to be heavily involved, along with one or more human actors, in the abduction and murders.

Until I thought about it all freely, I started to get annoyed by the horror element - it seemed weirdly inappropriate. Then, I thought more about it, and realized that if one thought about it metaphorically, it all came together. So, I wound up liking it more when I seriously considered the levels of meaning in the book!

Jackal is an excellent mix of racial and supernatural thriller. Akin to Get Out and books like The Other Black Girl and Ace of Spades, this thriller shows the horrors of being a bystander to racism. I enjoyed the flashback stories of minor characters throughout the novel, which helped characterize the town and give it history. If anything, I would have liked a little bit deeper history into the main characters. I enjoyed it and will recommend it to others.

I wasn't really able to get far with this book. I probably got 10 percent of the way through and I just had to stop because I wasn't really vibing with the story. I appreciate having the ability to have an arc of it.

This was quite a bit slower than I expected and rabbit-trailed more often than I would have liked. Didn't stop me from finishing it. I was creeped out occasionally and always rooting for our author to bring it back to solid ground.

Jackal was a really thrilling novel that takes a look at racism and how dangerous it can be. I liked Liz' story as well as the search for little Caroline. It felt unlike other thrillers I've read in how it tackled racism head-on. Very good ending.

A thrilling page turner that incorporates themes of racism and generational trauma with an on the edge of your seat tale of darkness and horror. Set against the backdrop of a small town with a sinister history. Entertaining and thought provoking

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital review copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

“If you think you heard something…you didn’t.” Welcome to Appalachia folks and to the premise of Jackal by Erin Adams!

I picked this book up expecting 2 or 3 things and got 6 or 7 very different other things instead in a very cool, roller coaster ride way.

Black girls missing in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Racism? Yup! Mystery? Of course! Protagonist Returns to Town and Gets Caught Up In The Mess? Duh!

Buttttt…Hearing Your Name in the Woods When You’re Alone? Hold Up! Black girls going missing every year on the summer solstice for years? WTH! The killer gets a POV? I wasn’t ready!

Jackal by Erin Adams is combo of thriller, horror, mystery and suspense with both reality-based racism and classism mixed with the supernatural interpretations of those isms.

Not Your Ordinary Thriller
Maaaaaaaannnnnnnn!!! Jackal takes Kiss the Girls and dropkicks it in the face! I didn’t know which way was up once those girls started going missing and the protagonist returned to town. But I did know that being in the house when the streetlights came on was absolutely imperative to Black girls survival in that town and if you hear someone calling your name, it’s best just to literally run for your life. Yes, I was indeed creeped out and this book is a proper spooky season read.

Cultural Representation
I loved a few things about the cultural representation in this book.

The main character, Liz Rocher, and her mother are Haitian/ Haitian American
Black people are represented in an Appalachian setting
Liz, a Black woman who was isolated from other Black people growing up, reaches out to the other Black mothers of missing girls and claims a connection that she had been missing.
Liz loves the stars and is a blerd.

Supernatural Elements
No spoilers. But I thought I was going to like the angle the supernatural element was going, but the twist it took was not for me. I thought it had potential and I definitely stuck through it to see where it was going. However, my honest reaction was “What did I just read?” more than a “Ohhhh! You got me good!” Which the author did get me, just not in the way I was expecting. Nope! I said I wasn’t doing any spoilers, so you will have to just be your own judge once you read it.

Overall Thoughts
I will definitely read more of this author’s work. This was a good debut with a unique premise. She definitely captured the eeriness of the Appalachian woods and combined it with the danger and vulnerability of being a Black girl in a predominately white town. This was a quick and intense read and I was definitely sweating trying to figure out what was going to happen in the end.

Trigger Warning: Racism, violence, child death, gore, kidnapping, domestic violence, alcoholism

Hell of a book. Excellent writing. Dances in that Jordan Peele realm of real-world horrors leveraged by the supernatural. So many perspectives, in a way I found both confusing and clever. And there's so much grief embodied in so, so many ways.

I first apologize for this late review. It was not my fault but due to netgalley form not letting me get in my account for a time period. That issue is now resolved.
I found this book to be interesting and drew me into the mystery. I found the social commentary to be very important. It puts how racial issues are still prevalient and need addressed. How it effects indivuals and families. I also liked how it pointed out how fast somehting can happen to someone especially childern. This is defintely something that relates to real society today. How white people are many times in the media and a rush to find them when it comes to minorities they are not getting that same media coverage, help, and care. I like how they put the commentary and the monster together although that did also make it a little strange. It let me see this through someone elses view that is like me but also different from me. It also makes people look at how things happen through generations and ppl just think they have to accept it instead of fighting for change. As well as the majority in power thinking it is okay to keep things how they are in that comfort zone when it is not okay. I liked the action in it and the mystery you had to figure out. I can't say i enjoyed all of it this read but i feel it is important and i would recommend to others.

Riveting. I found Jackal to be a superb debut. It kept me well invested in the history of each girl and the mystery of what happened to them made me not want to put it down. It read very quickly. It had just the right amount of suspense to keep me on edge and the hint of possible paranormal always intrigues me. What I would’ve like to delve a little deeper into was Liz’s relationship with Caroline’s mother and even her family. For such a strong bond between the girls, I would’ve liked to see it more in their interactions or flashbacks, even. I would happily read more from the author and look forward to what she writes next. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC copy of the book.

I don’t know how to start this review aside from saying it was a book I couldn’t put down. Even when I wanted a break or to rest my eyes, I had to fight to stop reading. Jackal is the kind of book that gets under your skin and doesn’t let go.

It’s wildly well written and the characters are great. They also get into you although none so much as the main character–as it should be.

Now, if you’re Black, please read this with caution and protect your peace. Racism is heavy in it. It’s important to the plot but also to the real events that happened that inspired the book. The Klan is mentioned.

This book hit me in a weird place. In it, Black girls have been going missing and no one knows who it is or why. The only thing they do know is the bodies are find cut open and the hearts are missing.

While I was reading this book, a Black woman escaped from a basement. People had been telling the police that Black women were going missing. The police ignored it, said it wasn’t going on. When the woman escaped and the man was captured, it turned out to be true. And the police still ignored it and said that wasn’t what was happening. So this was a lot. It soured my stomach and it hurt.

It was a fantastic book and even when it got dark I couldn’t stop reading. I kept trying to give myself a break and couldn’t. So the author has wild skill when it comes to writing. Absolutely amazing. I would recommend it.

I give it a five (5) out of five (5) stars. I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

A mystery, a thriller, a horror story, a psychological study-in short tough to categorize. It explores racism, poverty, and economic class struggle . The pivotal character Liz Rocher, returns with dread to her hometown, Johnstown Pa. and discovers that young black girls are being systematically tortured and killed.The book engaged me for the first 80 percent, but in the last 20 became more horror story, and more unrealistic and difficult to follow, at least for me. In short, I liked the mystery aspect and Liz’s coming to terms with her own demons, but the author lost me in the ending.

Part "Get Out", part monster/horror book, part a story of a strong black woman, Jackal is a very well-written first novel. There's plenty of suspense and surprises with a finale you won't see coming. This is not my usual genre, but I ripped through it and it freaked me out!

If y’all understood how thirsty I was for this book only to find out that I didn’t love it like I wanted to! 😭☹️

The premise of the story was very intriguing 𝐁𝐔𝐓 I had a few issues with it:
🫀 I didn’t like the supernatural elements to it - that hit doesn’t work for me.
🫀 I hated that the narrator (because I always use audio) didn’t have an authentic Haitian accent - we gotta do better with us! It was not believable to me at all.
🫀 I was confused with how it starts off with like a racial attack on black girls in this small town but it sorta veers into something else that I just didn’t like. 😭

Now don’t get it twisted, there were definitely some things that I did love:
🫀 first & foremost, I loved that this is written by a Haitian female author!! 🇭🇹
🫀 I loved the mystery to the beginning of the book - Adam’s drew me into the story with her writing of what happened to Alice Walker & even with Liz traveling back to Johnstown for her best friends wedding. I wanted to read more!
🫀 I loved that the main character & her mama is Haitian and so much of the culture/language were infused into this story.

Overall, it just didn’t work for 𝐦𝐞 but hey, it might work for you. I’d still definitely recommend it because I still think she did a dope job with her debut novel. I think had it stayed more on the realistic side, I’d feel way more different about

A genre bending debut, Jackal was a wild ride. I found out about Jackal through a TikTok Adams had made and was pulled in by her description & the fact that it is set near my hometown. Part mystery, part horror, part a timely look at the racism that plagues our country. Pick this up if you're looking for something that will challenge and stimulate your mind throughout the whole book.

If you have a voice, use it, and fight.

What if in your local town girls, black girls, went missing every single year for as long as anyone can remember. But it’s swept under the rug and never talked about.

They warn you not to go into the woods.

This is Liz’s town that she escaped, but when she goes back for her best friend, Mel’s wedding, Mel’s daughter ends up missing in those same woods.

Underneath the dark, supernatural thriller is real anger and real commentary on our world. How many black girls go missing and no one cares? I felt the pain, fear, and absolute rage in all the pages of this book.

Simply beautiful. And the author’s note is even like a cherry on top.

*Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review. This one was definitely worth it and I’ll be purchasing a hard copy.*

I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Feminist horror can be difficult to do but Erin E. Adams saw the challenge and exceeded it. Our main character Liz is thrust into the middle of an epidemic of missing Black girls and the more she learns, the more horrifying it becomes. We can't trust anyone in this novel, not even Liz herself. And in our mistrust, are we complicit in the crimes being committed?

JACKAL is hands-down one of the best books I've read this year. It's a necessary force in horror writing.

I hate that this is how it played out with this book because it was one of my most anticipated October reads, but I had to DNF around 40%. The burn was s-l-o-w and there was way too much going on from a literary standpoint and not nearly enough going on from an action standpoint. This was the author's debut novel, and I think they may have tried to include too much, which bogged down the plot. I would encourage readers who appreciate atmospheric slow burns to check this out because there's some good stuff here, but not a great fit for me right now.

From my blog: Always With a Book

This was a book that once I heard a few other bookstagrammers rave about, I knew I had to read it and I immediately requested it. It totally delivered and then some and for a debut novel, I’m beyond impressed. This is one author who will definitely be on my must-read list for sure.

This is the type of horror book I like – one that is combined with other genres and that is exactly what we have here. It’s a mash-up of horror, mystery, thriller and a little supernatural and I could not have loved it more. I ended up binge-reading this one because I found myself completely caught up in the story. It’s atmospheric and suspenseful and had me on the edge of my seat not knowing where things were heading or if anyone could be trusted.

This is the type of book that is best to go into blind, so I’m not going to give too much away but I will say that I loved how the author was able to weave racism, classism, sexism and substance abuse into this story. It’s such a layered, unique story that really would make for a great bookclub pick if your bookclub likes these types of books. It definitely is one to read during this time of year, though – those spooky, creepy vibes are there the whole time!

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the author’s note which has stayed with me ever since I’ve read it. As if this book wasn’t haunting enough, to read the notes that the author included just made this book so much more impactful. We read about monsters in horror books all the time, but what about the real monsters in everyday life? The people that make vile decisions because they have money and feel they have the right to do so? What really happened in Johnstown during the great flood is just awful.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough. It will definitely be one of my top reads of the year and I will for sure be telling everyone to read it. And I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author…she is one to watch for sure!

This was a well done debut novel, but unfortunately the horror aspects put me off a bit, which is why this is rated 4 stars.

I expected more of a mystery / suspense story and horror isn't my thing so I struggled just a bit.

Jackal is well written, and while it dragged a little in the middle, it kept me reading. If you enjoy these sorts of books, pick it up and give a debut author a chance. I think we can expect good things from this author in future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC.