Erin E. Adams

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. 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 and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing—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 school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart missing. 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.

A mysterious outsider torments two Haitian American sisters, forcing them to confront dark secrets from their family’s past in this powerful psychological suspense novel from the acclaimed author of Jackal. What would you sacrifice to become American? Everything about the Beauclaire family seems normal—almost perfect, even. They immigrated to New York City from Haiti years ago, looking for their own piece of America’s promised riches. They go to church; they're good neighbors; and their two daughters, Judith and Beatrice, have typical sibling rivalries that keep things interesting. But beneath this polished exterior, something is just slightly off. There’s malice waiting . . . wanting to reveal itself. When their mother unexpectedly dies, Judith and Bea are overwhelmed by a mob of relatives, friends, and church ladies. Amidst taking care of the funeral, they meet Libète, who claims to be a close friend of their mother’s. Bea welcomes her, but Judith is immediately suspicious—their mother never mentioned Libète, and yet she seems to know everything about them. After a series of unsettling events—a disfigured doll appearing in their attic, childhood photos of Bea vanishing, and a mysterious illness suddenly afflicting their father—Judith and Bea are forced to dive into a hidden world of mythos and question Libète’s role in it all. What they learn could threaten the bedrock of the entire Beauclaire family . . . and reveal a rot that goes deeper than the roots they first made in this place.