Wow that was super creepy! This is one that’s perfectly timed for spooky season. The book takes place in rural PA where Black girls have gone missing but no one seems to think the losses are connected. Until Liz Rocher comes home, her niece goes missing and all of her memories fears and past come flooding together for a perfect storm. A hunt is underway to find the little girl while Liz tries to piece together what’s happened. Along the way we find out her history, learn more about her relationship with her mother and have interwoven social and racial commentary. I enjoyed the writing and found the passages especially by the male character eerie and haunting. I’m still not totally clear honestly on what the killer was or wanted but I think this would make for a great discussion pt as I think it’s sort of up to interpretation. Some people may want something more straightforward but I liked the uniqueness.

Jackal was such a strong debut that immediately pulled me in and kept me guessing the whole way through. I’m not sure which genre to classify this as as it borrowed from several - supernatural horror, thriller, small town mystery, they’re all here. If you’re looking for something spooky that also tackles real world social issues make sure to check out Jackal this spooky season.

I loved how many different ways this story could have gone. There were plenty of moments where the author planted clues as to who may be doing the killing, but by the time you reach the next chapter you’re second guessing yourself. Setting plays a big part in this story and the author did a great job of creating an unsettling atmosphere. By the end, every time the woods were mentioned I felt uneasy and knew something was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. I will definitely check out future books by this author.

After reading several Historical Fiction novels with heavy themes, I picked up Jackal as a literary palette-cleanser. Classified as a Mystery/Thriller | Horror novel arriving just in time for an early (and most appropriate) October release, I was ready for something different (for me). I wasn’t sure what to expect - and at the end - I’d say, I enjoyed the adventure.

Early into the novel, our protagonist, Liz Rocher, reluctantly returns “home” to rural, isolated Johnstown, Pennsylvania after a recent and traumatic breakup. She is there to attend her childhood bestie’s (Michelle) wedding and use this homecoming experience as a positive step in her rehabilitation to ground herself: manage her anxieties, rebuild trust and confidence in herself and her decisions. The mystery and thrills begin when Liz’s bi-racial goddaughter, Caroline, (Michelle’s daughter) goes missing at the wedding under Liz’s watch igniting a massive community search party to find the nine-year-old in the vastly wooded township. The act simultaneously resurrects folklore, rumors, and conspiracy theories based on the decades-long, string of murders and disappearances of young African American girls during early Summer.

Art imitates life and Johnstown like any American town has an ugly history where racists’ beliefs and ideologies were codified into law to deny rights and opportunities in employment, education, justice, health care, and housing institutions to ensure generations of marginalized citizens remained impoverished and underserved. Exclusionary practices and unwritten policies are included in the plot to build themes, theories, and clues to why things are happening and what’s going on in the woods.

Liz, the socially awkward, star-gazing daughter of the town’s only female physician of color, fared better financially than some of her contemporaries. She left town for the big city (New York City), however, as a child/teen she was routinely ostracized by both White peers for simply being Black, and Black peers who viewed her as too “White” due to her elevated financial status, use of proper English (not slang), different tastes in music, and a home address amongst White neighbors. A bonus was the glimpses at racism, classism, sexism via each character’s lens and their complicated interpersonal relationships: Michelle, a White wife to a Black man and mother of a biracial child; Liz and Keisha as two Black girls forced to compete to be “the one” because this town can’t handle too much Black Excellence; Liz’s mother’s struggles as a highly skilled and educated Haitian immigrant in rural, White America, Garrett (Michelle’s Black husband) relationship with his racist in-laws, and the black mothers of the victims struggles with local law enforcement to obtain justice for their daughters (this plot thread echoes the demands of the BLM movement).

Given the gravity of some of the themes, the novel does not feel weighted or preachy. The racial and social dynamic threads are integral pieces and clues necessary to bind the town’s history to the manifestation of what’s behind the girls’ disappearances and deaths. The momentum builds as the search for Caroline intensifies and the summer solstice rapidly approaches. Friendships are strained, odd alliances are formed, and the players eventually take center stage to release repressed secrets with unexpected results. I was turning pages until the end to see how things would play out!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

this was a delicious fun wild ride! i was on the edge of my seat the whole way through! I didn't know who to trust and honestly was back and forth on who the villain was up until the reveal!

Part thriller and part horror, set in a town where black girls go missing, Jackal will keep you riveted and turning pages. There are some graphic scenes that might be disturbing to some, so check the trigger warnings. There are layers to this book which makes it good for discussion.

In Jackal, we are following Liz, who comes back to her hometown for her best friend, Mel's wedding. During the wedding, Mel's daughter Caroline disappears in the woods. Young black girls have been disappearing in these woods for years. Will Liz be be able to put the mystery behind the lost girls to rest and find Caroline in time?

This is definitely 4.5 stars for me. I loved Liz as our protagonist, and I love the little glimpses we are shown of the missing girls lives. The detail in this book was so good, I could picture everything as it was playing out. I can't wait to get the physical copy of this book. I loved this story so much, I just felt like it was dragging a little in some parts, or this would definitely be a solid 5.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read for an honest review.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. WHOOH. Jackal is an absolute ride. The horror aspect of the story hits you in a couple different angles, and Ms. Adams does a fantastic job doing it. The plot was strong, and the world-building was so detailed I felt like I was sitting right in the middle of this story. Giving this a GLOWING reccomendation for all those who want horror, suspense and a little bit of that realism that you experience when watching a movie like Get Out that reminds you that some of these experiences are based off things that are currently happening to so many people around you. Fantastic book. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

An interesting and intriguing read. Not exactly horror or thriller but spooky nonetheless. Nice touch to set this in the rust belt of Pennsylvania, I get a bit creeped out whenever I have to drive through that area. My only gripe is the ending felt off compared to the rest of the story. A lot of depth in the beginning then just a bit of disappointment.

Special thanks to the author, randomhouse, & netgalley for my advanced copy.

This was a decent read definitely not your typical mystery/thriller. I wouldn’t say it’s a horror because it didn’t scare me much. But the gruesome scenes gave horror vibes.

The beginning definitely pulls you in but toward the second half of the novel it started to lose me. The original assumption I had of what was going to occur immediately changed the deeper I got into the story. I wasn’t really surprised once everything was revealed.

The writing was great though I just thought it was going in another direction. It started so well building up the suspense with the eerie scenes, the character development, and detailed scenarios. The vivid descriptions made it easy for me to really envision what the characters were dealing with. Almost like watching a movie. But once I was about 60-70% in things got iffy. You’ll have to read it to understand what I mean.

I loved there were so many twists because not only did this add depth to the story. But it keeps you guessing and unsure of who to trust. One minute you think this person’s the killer and the next it’s someone or something else. At one point I was sure Liz was the killer and was just having blackouts.

Overall, I enjoyed this because it takes you on a journey. You won’t be able to guess who’s behind the whole thing!!!! I recommend this for spooky season for sure.

This was an interesting mixture of mystery/suspense that included some elements of horror, though I have to admit there were never any moments in which I felt scared, or even really on-edge with anticipation of something scary coming. I felt like it could have been 4 stars for me if it had fallen solidly into one category or the other. The addition of the supernatural horror element detracted from a solid suspense novel, yet was also not fully developed enough to put it squarely in the horror genre.

I really enjoyed this! I was sucked in from the beginning and could not stop reading. I did feel a little meh towards the end but I did like how everything wrapped up. The author’s descriptions were fantastic and really had me scared for Liz throughout.

I really liked where the story was heading, until the last quarter of the book. With so many suspicious characters, the book could have had a huge twist, but instead it was odd and not at all expected. I felt it didn’t match the story at all, and was a bit confusing.
The two narratives were good, but again, with the big reveal it didn’t work. For all the thrilling content and the bread crumbs of clues building up, I really expected an equal ending.

Absolutely beautiful story. it has a little bit over everything you need mystery, horror, thriller and a whole lot of suspense. This is a must read of the year the author does a beautiful job of mixing in the realities of this world and the fantasy of the one she created. I felt for the characters and was right there with them as I was reading. Wonderfully done, can't wait to read more by this author.

I really enjoyed this book. I read a lot of thrillers and true-crime novels. Even though I like them, there is always the issue of humanizing the characters and victims. I genuinely felt for the victims and their families in this book. This book used multiple POVs to introduce us to each victim. We were also introduced to the family of the victims. The author included a lot of themes like domestic violence, social class and racism in the justice system in the novel. I empathized with Liz a lot and understood her motives. I appreciated how subtle the book was. Some social thrillers are very direct ,which I appreciate , but I liked how we slowly saw how racism and sexism affected Liz and how her friends and family contributed to this. There was a horror aspect to it that I did not enjoy as much. . I think the aspect of missing girls was horrific enough and that aspect wasn't needed. The book was not perfect but I appreciated how the book focused more on the humanity of the victims and their families, ,instead of actually solving the crime. I would give this book 4.5 stars.

Liz comes home, reluctantly, to her best friends wedding. The wedding is held in the woods. The same woods where Liz had a frightening experience where another Black girl was taken. During the wedding Liz is suppose to keep her eye on Caroline, her best friends daughter, but Caroline is suddenly gone. While Liz is determined to help find the girl she discovers there are many missing girls. All of them taken in the woods. All of them Black.

I loved the premise of this one but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. It was a slow paced literary horror book. It definitely had an uncomfortable, creepy vibe. It also had some social correlations and I did like the idea of a Black thriller/horror book as that’s not something I see often. It felt a little to out there for me in the end.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this one for an honest review.

Liz does not want to return to her childhood home but her best friend is getting married. Being back in Jonestown PA comes with alot of feelings for Liz; stress, anxiety BUT the fear of its woods is most pressing. Black girls have not made it out those woods alive and when her god daughter becomes one of many missing, Liz must push aside fear of the trees, darkness and death to find her.

For the most part I highly enjoyed Jackal. I think the author did a stellar job of mixing in the thriller and suspense aspects of this story. Also, she does an wonderful job of describing the racism that Black peoples dealt/deal with while living in the mountains of PA; that racism (or imo white resentment) here takes the form of something truly dark and sinister.

Now, I did have some issues as I was a bit confused on the horror portion and maybe Im overthinking…. but what did the ‘Jackal’ represent here? And was it real or nah? This imo caused a bit of lagging towards its end. Still though, if you have a love for a steady pace then pick this up. It Definitely took me back to my love of creepy suspense reads.

Wow. I was hooked by the description of this book and was not let down. Jackal examines small town life through the lens of a Black woman returning to town for her friend's wedding. Small town racism seems to be at play when we learn of a potential serial killer targeting Black girls spanning many decades.

This book is full of twists, turns, and quite a few red herrings. The author is great at shifting the reader's attention, making it difficult to settle on a single suspect.

Amazing. Overall a well-paced story. drew me in right away and kept me hooked up until about the halfway point, where things slowed down... but then it picked back up with new clues in this small-town who-dun-nit with wild twists and reveals. This kept me guessing who the killer was ‘til the end! Adams did a great job leading us toward one suspect and the other. As someone who has always loved the woods, this made me see it in a new way: trees hide things.

I was actually laughing out loud at a few points, and there were so many great cultural things I could relate to as a Black person. I love to see the varied expressions of Blackness represented here: the upper-middle class Blacks; the French Blacks; the loud, angry, “ghetto” Blacks; the Southern Belle Church Mamas—and all the different ways they’ve been broken, how things affect them, and the various psychological coping mechanisms used to stay safe and sane in a racist world.

Excellent job building the atmosphere of the place—the woods, the town, the connections between the townspeople, the class/historical material analyses. This was such an immersive story that was hard to put down, and I appreciated the little details, like how one of the girls who went missing always had her edges laid with Eco Styler.

This was an incredible book. The story follows Liz, a Black woman, as she returns to her majority white Appalachian hometown for her best friend's wedding. The night of the wedding, her friend's daughter goes missing in the woods, bringing up memories, and new stories of Black girls across the years who have gone missing and been found murdered and mutilated. Liz is drawn deeper into the mystery in more ways than one as she fights to bring her friends daughter home safely. Jackal is frightening as a horror story, but it is even more deeply disturbing as an allegory for white supremacist violence and isolation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for the free ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Jackal defies all genres. There's a little bit of horror, a little bit of mystery, a sprinkle of thriller, and a whole lot of suspense. This started off as a 5 star read for me, but the direction the ending wound up kind of ruined it for me. It would have been nice for the book to keep its realistic feeling rather than the supernatural path it took. Now don't get me wrong, I love fantasy and supernatural feels, but here it felt randomly placed. I thought we were going in one direction and it wasn't even in the same zip code. Overall, I really did enjoy this book. As a debut, Erin E. Adams amazes. The built up was unreal. It's no secret that black girls and women go missing in the country all the time without little care about what happens to them. She was able to tackle racism and classism while telling another story with such intricate detail and crossing between multiple genres. I applaud her. Some of the best writing I've seen this year!