Jackal: A Novel
RECOMMENDED BY GILLIAN FLYNN ON THE TODAY SHOW • 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. . . .
“I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half in one night.”—BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary . . . A terrifying tale of fears and hatreds generated by racism and class inequality.”—Associated Press
EDGAR® AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER® AWARD FINALIST • SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE • PHENOMENAL BOOK CLUB PICK
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Esquire, Vulture, PopSugar, Paste, Publishers Weekly • ONE OF COSMOPOLITAN’S BEST HORROR NOVELS OF ALL TIME
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.
It’s your turn.
With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Jackal* by Erin E. Adams is a compelling debut thriller with a gripping plot set in a vivid small-town backdrop. Reviewers agree on its s...
This book was amazing. I was encapsulated. Initially, I felt like it was slow but it built up and once we hit the peak it was downhill from there. This book explores the differences between how black people are perceived in non black communities, the oppression that is still present today & also the aspect of safety. This book started my reading journey.
I actually enjoyed this book, I really didn’t expect what I got, but after reading it, it makes sense. We all have our demons that we deal with, and our God complexes for some, and even the sense of entitlement when it comes to race & class. I love how this book weaved all of that together and brought to light a very true and real thing happening in the United States with black girls coming up missing and no one taking notice or caring to try to find them or find out what happened to them. I finished this story faster than I expected, and glad too as it definitely kept my interest.
There was a lot I liked about this novel up until the end, including that it takes place in a town that really exists, and incorporates some of its history. What I didn’t like was the jump into magical realism towards the end, and the misinterpretation of what the Egyptian god Anubis. Even so, Jackal is a solid debut novel.
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