What a thrilling, horrifying, evocative journey! The first chapter starts off with Cora and her sister Delilah conversing and then BAM. It captures the abruptness of tragedy so well. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, filled with the terror of living in a city where racism and hate crimes are rampant but covered up.

The terror slowly creeps up on you as the horror elements start to emerge. I was shocked. I was in disbelief. But it’s the hateful people that are the true terrors of the story. And I was enraged. This is a horror novel that touches on so many important topics. The entitlement of white men and then anger when they’re refused, turning to vile and violent behaviors. The sexualization of Asian women. The micro aggressions. The killing of Asian women that doesn’t get the same attention as white women.

As someone who tries not to read about the pandemic, I picked this up because of its unique take and highly recommend it. As an immigrant, I recommend it even more. As the author states in her note at the end, ‘do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.’ Now more than ever this is important.

“Do not let your empathy stop at the boarders of your own community.” That authors note made this a 5⭐️ read.

This was a challenging read showcasing Chinese American hate and the hate on all Asian Americans specifically. There are dashes of horror, but nothing I would consider extreme.

I really don’t have any complaints on this book. The atmosphere built, the found family, the mystery behind who was killing all of these women kept me engaged.

This book highlights all the things our society tries to hide: systematic racism, the fetishization of Asian women, police violence etc. The author wrote a story littered with truth along with some mysterious/horror elements. It was a medium paced build that I could not look away from.

What a phenomenal novel!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Wowwww, this book was so much more than I ever expected!

The first scene begins by lulling you into a false sense of complacency and then out of no where 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 I could not believe what I was hearing my jaw was on the literal floor.

Safe to say things escalated from there. The main character definitely has some ocd / neurotypical behaviours and I’m not sure if she developed them after her traumatic experience (which would make absolute sense) or if she always had these quirks but they definitely highlighted the tone of the book and made the daily normal seem extremely uncomfortable and unusual.

I don’t know how to say more without giving away any spoilers I feel like this book is definitely best to go into blind!

Im not sure if I’ve listened to any other audiobooks narrated by Natalie Naudus before but after this one I’m a huge fan, she did an excellent job and kept me zoned in and focused the whole time.

This is definitely a book that sticks with you for a long time after.

Thank you to Harlequin audio and Kylie Lee Baker for the alc!

Publish date; April 29th 2025

I want to start by saying I absolutely loved this book! I started the audiobook just before bed one night and couldn’t stop—I flew through it and finished by the next evening.

Set at the height of the pandemic, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a gripping horror thriller that follows Cora Zeng, a Chinese American crime scene cleaner struggling with trauma in the wake of her sister's brutal murder and the rising violence against East Asians. At first, the story feels like a descent into a familiar thriller, but Kylie Lee Baker takes us much deeper—blurring the lines between psychological horror and supernatural terror.


As Cora battles her inner demons, her aunt urgers her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, a tradition she initially dismisses. But she quickly learns that hungry ghosts cannot be ignored.


What begins as a slow creep into eerie unease escalates into full-fledged terror, seamlessly woven with themes of grief, identity, and the weight of cultural expectations. Baker’s storytelling is masterful, pulling readers from grounded thriller territory into chilling horror with a gradual yet relentless force.

As a seasoned horror fan, it takes a lot to genuinely rattle me—especially in book form—but the first ghostly encounter in Bat Eater gave me goosebumps. And from that moment on, Baker never let up, delivering unsettling, skin-crawling moments in all of the right places, right up until the very end.


A huge thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC!

3.5 stars

The first chapters of this book really grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the narrative took a turn and tended to drag quite a bit. Still this is an excellent social commentary and a very scary horror novel. The important topic of anti-Asian sentiment during and after Covid is very well represented here.

I enjoyed pairing the print version with the audiobook. The narration really brought the story to life for me.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I did DNF this at 20%, but that had nothing to do with the narration. The narrator was fantastic and made the reading experience very immersive. Unfortunately this just isn't my type of horror. It's very gruesome and bloody. I also wasn't a fan of the religious aspect of it, nor the fact that it's set during COVID and didn't have that listed anywhere.

Overall I think a ton of people will love this book, but it's not my type of horror.

Cora Zeng is haunted by many things - her sister's murder, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer, to name a few. As an East Asian woman during the pandemic, she is regularly stereotyped because of the "China sickness" plaguing the world. Two words run through her head regularly, Bat Eater. This is what the man that killed her sister said as he pushed her in front of a train.

Before the pandemic, she worked at the front desk of the MET. Now, she is a crime scene cleaner clearing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. There starts to be a common theme in many of the murder clean ups - bats are being left at the sites like a calling card. Throw in the hungry ghosts that keep following Cora around, and she starts to lose touch with what's real.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was filled with dark humor and horror. There is a lot going on in this story, but it worked. This is the second book about the pandemic that I have read this month, but totally different vibes and stories. It really focused on the discrimination that Asian people faced during that time. Cora was facing ghosts and gore, but that wasn't the scariest thing in her days. The people who openly showed aggression and hate due to her appearance were the real fear she faced. This book is a horror book for sure, but it was about much more than that. It was very well written and an interesting read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for the audiobook for review.

Thank you so much Harlequin Press for the ALC!! I really enjoy a good horror book and this sounded like the perfect book to switch it up from my usual genre. It shines a light on a subject that happened in recent years- the mistreatment of Asians during the pandemic. I wasn’t sure how the pandemic was going to play into the plot, but I was left in tears at the end. There are a string of murders in this book that have you guessing who is behind it. It was also interesting that there were ghosts in this story.

The horror elements were both body horror and ghost elements that have your skin crawling. The author’s writing made the ghosts come to life and feel so real. I felt like I was actually in the room with Cora.

Cora’s inner monologue was gritty and real for someone who suffers from anxiety and is afraid of germs. Which is totally understandable given how horrible COVID is.

Overall, 4.5 stars. I’m so glad I got to listen to this book! If you’re a horror fan that also loves ghosts and reading about political issues this is going to be the perfect book for you.

This book starts off right away with a punch to the gut and it doesn't slow down from there. From the first chapter, my attention was held and I wanted to speed read through this to see how dark it was going to get. It did have it's gruesome moments that are expected with horror, but I find the quieter moments to be much more horrific in any horror novel.

I remember reading and hearing about all of the Asian hate during Covid and being completely horrified by it then. Kylie Lee Baker takes those moments and makes us face it all over again without holding back. I kept thinking to my, Did she pull this from real life? (And I know at least some of it was.) That's the truly scary part of this book. People did terrible, racist things in real life and didn't face consequences and caused people to live in fear when we were all already a little scared. This is what scares me in horror novels. It's not the monsters and supernatural elements--it's the human reactions to the situations they're put in because those things could happen in real life. This is what made Bat Eater such a success to me.

That said, I was taken by surprise with the ghosts. I thought at first they were hallucinations, though I do like the cultural aspect in the involvement of the ghosts. The way I read the description to the book, I didn't anticipate a supernatural element (and didn't see appropriate tags on Goodreads), but that could be on me. When I went back, I saw the mention of hungry ghosts. I do think this book is plenty terrifying without the supernatural element, but I do love that this aspect allowed us to learn more about the culture and Cora's relationship with it.

I felt like conclusion involving the killer and what Cora did happened a little fast. Blink and you miss it kind of fast for what happened to him. I do like and approve of the character development we got from Cora by the end. It was nice to see her come into her own and stop taking everyone's shit.

Bat Eater and Other names for Cora Zeng
By Kylie Lee Baker
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
4.5 ⭐️

This book is intense and jarring. It puts human indecency front row and center. It’s not comfortable. It’s well written. The narration of the audiobook is also very good.

Discrimination against Asian people during the pandemic is a central theme. Being biracial and not fitting in a familial “category” is also heavily focused on. Finding like-abused people and the journey to becoming unlikely friends is present as well. Mostly how cruel humans can be and are is the thread that weaves this story. It’s not for the faint of heart. It will make you think. It will likely make you very, very angry. I’d full heartedly recommend this one is any format to anyone who thinks it sounds good to them. It’s a very powerful book.

I purchased a physical copy of this book and received an audiobook ARC from the publisher as well.

This novel starts off strong with the first chapter and continues throughout. Cora works for a clean-up company that takes care of "messes" after a crime scene. Cora and her co-workers start to notice that most of the subjects are Asian women and bats are at the crime scene. It should be noted that this novel takes place during the pandemic in NYC. Throughout the book, Kylie Lee Baker shows readers the prejudice and hate Asians are subjected to because the virus was nicknamed the China Flu. I will be honest, I did not realize how bad the hate was toward an entire population of people during the pandemic. That is my privilege showing, but I see now, which is the beauty of reading books by diverse authors. This novel is fast paced, as Cora and her friends try to find out who is behind these murders. I absolutely loved this novel, filled with ghosts and Chinese traditions and beliefs.

5⭐️

I've been a little leery about reading stories that focus on COVID and I was hesitant on reading this one. I'm so glad I pushed past that, though! This book really focused on how bleak things were during the height of 202 and how on edge everyone was. This book also highlighted how Chinese people suffered from higher rates of racism and hate crimes during that time.

This was a perfect mash up of a gory, gruesome horror story, a ghost story, a who-done-it mystery, and a social commentary on racism in the US. I loved the use of the bats as the glue that tied all of the deaths together when everything else was so different between each person. The ghost trying to help solve the case added to the tension and the fact that there were enough gruesome murders and mutilated bodies that Cora wasn't able to guess who the ghost actually was was a nice touch.

I also loved how this showed how resilient someone can be when they have to be. Cora has spent almost her entire life doing whatever her half-sister Delilah said. Cora hated making her own decisions and would do what she was told to avoid confrontation. Cora finding the job as a crime scene cleaner that fits to her strengths and compulsions (I don't think it's ever specifically says, but she shows the signs of OCD) was a great first step in making something of her own life after Delilah's death. Yifei and Harvey pulling Cora out of her shell and forming their own little found family was the perfect gang to pull for in this crazy story.

Thank you Netgalley, MIRA and Harlequin Audio for providing this ARC to me!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Audio Review: the audio copy of this book really adds to the story. Because this novel is haunting at times, I would advise listening to increase intensity of the story, reading physically to decrease intensity.

Review: I don't know where to start with this review. This is one of the best books I have ever read and is easily on my favorite of all time list. Per the usual I'm not going to go into detail about the synopsis in my review.

This is a heartbreaking story, all the way through. That's what I want you to know before you pick it up. This is a truly heartbreaking story for many different reasons but should be read and heard and felt. There is one scene (many) in particular that I will never forget or get out of my head. At the same time I was scared, horrified, intrigued, sad, and almost to tears. ALL I N ONE SCENE. That shows the depth of this book. Every word, every sentence, every character, packs a punch. The writing is crafty, humorous, dark, real, raw, gruesome, and so much more.

This is a very graphic story and not for the faint of heart. This should in no way be an intro horror. The body horror and graphic content is in everything. To balance that out, we get dark humor and a strong found family through a group of co-workers and friends. I wish I had the words to communicate how special the relationships within this book are.

That brings me to my next point, I'm not sure how to write a review for a book like this. I just really urge you to give it a try. There are a lot of potential triggers in this story and it's one that deserves to be heard just take care of yourself while you read it.

Wow... Just, wow. This was such a surprising book.

Set in 2020, the story follows Chinese American Cora Zeng after an event that changes her forever. She becomes a crime scene cleaner after that and her life is dominated by anxiety and fear. She's obsessed with cleanliness not just because of her personal trauma, but also because of COVID.

In her work, they start noticing a pattern: all the victims are Asian women, and bats are left at the crime scenes. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is targeting Asian women and no one's doing anything about it. On top of all that, Cora starts getting haunted by a "hungry ghost," and things simply start unraveling for her.

This book combines mystery, horror, and social commentary so well. I couldn't stop reading.

Yes, this is a COVID book, but it's not just about the pandemic, it's also about grief, loss, Asian racism, white supremacy, violence, dehumanization, desensitization, and how broken the system is. It's gorey, bleak, sad, enraging, and, unfortunately, real. But there's also beauty, strength, and culture.

It's also beautifully written and hard-hitting. I highlighted so many lines and felt so much for the characters and the Asian community they represent. This story provides a lot of perspective and though it's a tough read, it's a relevant one cause even if the pandemic is over (?) racism and white supremacy prevail, so uplifting stories about marginalized communities will always be important.

The audiobook was great! The narrator did a good job with this so it's a great way to consume the story.

This was a hard one for me to rate because I love horror but not gore. Yes, I knew this was gory, going in, and I dove in anyway. The horror, in it's numerous forms, was magnificent. The gore was, well.....gory. Which is to say, the story was so good, it kept me going through the 'yucky stuff'.
This was terrifying, unnerving and heartbreaking.

Horror • Mystery • Supernatural • Folklore
Expected Publication • 29 April 2025

Thank you @_mira_books_ @htp_hive & @harlequin_audio for the free ALC and e-book.

·˚ ༘₊·꒰➳: ̗̀➛ This will be in contention for top Horror of 2025 · ←˚ ༘₊·꒰➳: ̗̀

From the opening chapter, you can’t look away. A book that never pulls its punches, provides gripping social commentary, and blends Chinese lore and superstition against a backdrop of stereotypes and violence toward Asian Americans during the so-called “China virus”.

Cora Zeng is unemployed and needs rent money so she becomes a CSI-style crime scene cleaner. It’s one of the few things that she can stomach, ironically, as it’s impersonal and she can hide behind her mask and hazmat suit. As she and her crew respond to calls, a pattern emerges — though the deaths take different forms, the killer has a calling card involving bat entrails and body parts.

Cora is not OK but she’s getting by. She suffers from a few things, predominantly fear and PTSD following an assault and murder she witnesses and also some form of germaphobia/OCD. She’s also either losing her mind or food/drink is going missing from her apartment [where she lives alone]. Or it could be a restless spirit who hasn’t moved on to the afterlife, if you believe her Aunty Z, who is an expert on hungry ghosts.

I usually shy away from books relating to COVID-19 but this one is different. It’s not just about “what we all went through” “together”. This will punch you in the gut, make you laugh, terrify, and make you think hard about racism and domestic terrorism in our country.

‧₊˚🎧⊹ Narration of audiobook by Natalie Naudus was on point! This is the way to read this book!

TW: Murder, Gore, Misogyny, Assault, Racism, Racial Slurs

A ghosty, bloody, serial-killer horror with biting social commentary

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner. Cora starts noticing a trend of Chinese women being the ones dead at the crime scenes, and after finding bats at a few scenes, Cora suspects something more sinister is afoot. Together with her two other crime scene cleaner coworkers, Cora tries to uncover the truth.

Because of the crew, it felt a bit like R-rated Scooby-Doo at times, which I thoroughly enjoyed. One of my favorite types of horror is real-world horror, where everyday people are the villains and are capable of cruel, horrific acts. This book had such sharp commentary on racism against Chinese people - especially after Covid - while also incorporating a ghost story.

This was a wild, action-packed, non-stop ride. I listened to the audiobook in one day.

I'd recommend this to horror fans, especially fans of socially conscious horror. It is a bit gruesome, so I wouldn't recommend it to those who are more squeamish/sensitive.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

YEP THIS WAS GREAT. Definitely going to be on my top horror of 2025 list.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a horror/thriller set in early COVID days. The book opens with our Chinese American MC Cora witnessing her sisters murder on the subway in NYC after being called a 'bat eater' by her killer. She then becomes a crime scene cleanup person in the months following and notices too many asian women are being murdered.

This books really broaches the rampant asian hate crimes that have always occurred but really increased with the onset of COVID. It's something I don't feel like I heard enough about during the pandemic (also well illustrated in the book!) but I know it was occuring.

This is filled with amazing characters, some light found family/friendship, a serial killer on the loose, and lots of wild ghosts! There's a decent amount of really well written and creative gore and I could not put it down. I started and finished this in one day and I want more horror from this author in the future!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cora Zeng and her sister discussed what they should do when a horrific incident occurs. Cora is deeply affected. We fast forward, and she is working as a crime scene cleaner. Cora's obsession with cleanliness creates a bizarre tension as she comes in contact with disturbing things and people. Her experiences are very visceral and vivid as she begins to hear ghosts and see things in the shadows, making for some intense and scary interchanges.

The book weaves Chinese folklore into the narrative, transforming ghostly superstitions into something tangible. The phrase "bat eater" takes on a derogatory meaning and starts to paint a pattern involving the crime scenes as Cora is desperate to find a killer and soothe the ghosts haunting as she feels her reality slipping. Cora starts piecing all the deaths together, escalating to a climactic and shocking end.

I would classify The Bat Eater as a psychological horror that provides social commentary on the monstrosity of real-world prejudice. It covers grief, trauma, and the emotions that refuse to stay buried. I recommend it for those who love stories that pull from cultural folklore and about what hides in the shadows.

An excellent audiobook narration that exudes skill, technique, and an understanding of the story's tone, pacing, and character development.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin Audio, for the gifted audiobook.

This had me hooked right away. I adore horror books that are rooted in real, relatable events (in this case, the book is set during the onset of COVID).

The way the author included Chinese traditions for honoring the dead was hauntingly beautiful and added a lot of depth to the hungry ghosts storyline. At the same time, the book doesn’t shy away from highlighting the real horror of hate and anti-Asian racism during the pandemic. The balance between supernatural horror and the horrors of discrimination made this so impactful.

I also really enjoyed listening to this book in audio format. The narrator was strong and kept me invested in the story throughout.

This would be great for horror lovers that enjoy real-world settings and societal themes. It is creepy (and body horror-y), but it’s also a powerful reminder of hate society continues to perpetuate. Highly recommend!