This was a compelling, moving novel about healing ourselves by facing the ghosts in our pasts-- and also a reflection on what has become of Native American culture from the 1970s, when AIM (the American Indian Movement) was being taken down by the FBI, to today when there are fewer and fewer bastions of Indian culture remaining outside reservations.

The main character, Kari, is an "urban Indian" (a phrase used to separate Native Americans from Indians who live on a reservation) who becomes haunted by her mother's ghost and must figure out what happened to make her mother disappear 36 years previously, two weeks after Kari was born. Kari is haunted by more than one ghost; she suffers constant guilt over her best childhood friend overdosing and dying when the two were in their twenties, and she hasn't had much luck forming any real attachments outside of the one friend she still has, her white cousin Debbie. Her father has brain damage from a drunk-driving accident he got into after her mother vanished, and Kari is his reluctant caretaker. She has always assumed her mother abandoned her, but after Debbie gives her an old copper bracelet that once belonged to her mother, Kari suddenly starts having nightmarish visions that make her question everything she thought she knew about her mother's past.

Kari is an authentic character; she loves heavy metal, bars, boys, and family. She spends a lot of time in one of the last Indian bars in the area, White Horse, which she dreams of buying someday. A recovering heroin addict, she still drinks, which leaves her sobriety wobbling on a precarious edge. Reading the novel I felt genuinely invested in her and what happened to her, and the ghostly visions she is seeing are believably presented (though Kari herself keeps wondering if she has a brain tumor). There are several side characters with rich backstories and personalities, too.

The novel takes place in suburbs of Denver, including Aurora, CO, where I once lived, and in Idaho Springs on the other side of Denver. Looking back on my own years in high school in Aurora, I realize that my (white) friends and I never talked about or thought about the fact that some of our fellow students were Native Americans. (It turns out one of my classmates, who I always assumed was white, is now a professor of Native American Studies.) There were doubtless many more indigenous people around me than I realized back in the 1980s. I am grateful to have read several novels by Native Americans in the past few years to help me gain a better understanding of their continued existence and fight to keep their communities vibrant, and this is an important addition to the genre.

Though this isn't Wurth's debut novel, it is the first one she's written that is for sale in airports, as she mentioned last week on Twitter, and it got a great write-up in the New York Times. I am grateful to have been gifted an advance copy of the audiobook version of this story by Netgalley and Macmillan Audio. The novel was entertainingly narrated by Tonantzin Carmelo. I highly recommend it.

White Horse is the incredibly accomplished and innovative new novel from Erika T. Wurth, an urban Native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent. Kari James is rattling through life in ripped jeans, working in a bar with no discernable ambition or motivation. She cares for her handicaped father, and her cousin Debby is her only friend. But the discovery of an old bracelet kick-starts a wave of strange visions for Kari, which leads to Kari investigating why her mother’s death is shrouded in mystery.

Kari James is my new literary crush. A lover of metal, Stephen King, with a few questionable choices in her past, her quest to find out what happened to her mother would have killed a lesser woman. But Kari is stubborn, strong, and genuinely loves her family.

Kari’s relationship with her cousin Debby was my favorite plotline in the book. Kari’s determination to convince Debby to leave her deadbeat husband felt incredibly authentic. We’ve all been the person trying to expose the faults in the relationship of another, and we’re equally guilty of hesitating to turn that analysis inward.

My lack of Native American historical knowledge is embarrassing, but Wurth’s doesn’t assume any prior expertise, and is generous but never didactic when sharing details relating to Kari’s family history.

Tonantzin Carmelo was the perfect guide through this unexpected, breakneck journey. Carmelo’s performance as Kari James was gritty when necessary, and she nailed the more poignant sections perfectly.

A wonderful mix of supernatural, thriller, mystery, and a kick-ass protagonist, White Horse should be on every fiction-lover’s radar.

A mystery, horror, paranormal spookiness, generational trauma and a love letter to Stephen King?! Couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook. It was so good I ordered the hardcover after listening to the NetGalley audiobook. Ill be following this author closely!

✨ Review ✨ White Horse by Erika T. Wurth; Narrated by Tonantzin Carmelo

This is going to be one of my favorites of the year. Gritty and beautifully written; full of rich characters full of passion and flaws and redemption and struggle. Just so resonant about urban Indian identity & life in ways I don't think I can even quite articulate.

This book mixes mystery & horror to bring you Kari James's suspenseful search for how her mother died when she was just a newborn. Her father was incapacitated by an accident when she was young, her cousin and bestie Debby provides on-again-off-again support when Debby's anxious husband isn't getting in the way, and other supporting characters pop up to help or hinder her search. As she searches for her mom's story she finds new familial relationships, uncovers deep personal and familial trauma, and encounters a series of dreams and visions that helps guide her search.

This book is haunting in all the best ways, and is easily some of the best horror I've read. Wurth's ability to uncover layers of Indigenous identity is notable, reminding me of a more adult version of The Fire Keeper's Daughter. It's one of my favorite reads of the year and I'm so glad I took a chance on this one!

The audio narration is power and relatable and will suck you in. Kudos to Carmelo on this fabulous audio!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: horror, magical realism, mystery
Location: Denver and surrounding rural areas
Reminds me of: An adult version of the FireKeepers' Daughter
Pub Date: Out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ horror & magical realism
⭕️ Indigenous narratives -- especially those that confront your understandings of modern Native identity
⭕️ gritty mysteries

Thanks to Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Kari has got some serious unresolved family issues.

Drinking and partying when she was younger seemed to help her cope. Years later, upon receiving an old family heirloom from her cousin, the ghosts of her past become very much in her present. Now the old family mysteries are starting to unravel, and Kari will need all the help she can get to find the answers she is searching for.

If it were only as easy as hitting a golf ball into a cats butthole. Haha. (Got to read it to get it, so read it)

I really dig stories with Native American themes and lore. I have always found them endlessly fascinating. I also dig me some Stephen King and Megadeth references.

A very good debut from Erika T. Wurth. Looking forward to more from this author.

P.S. Thank you Negalley for the review audiobook copy. The review is all mine!
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Love this! It was gritty, intense, and so perfectly Denver I could barely contain myself. I really enjoyed Kari as a main character. She was clearly flawed but easy to root for. Though the story ended up being easy to figure out, that isn't a mark against it. The flow was there, and if you let White Horse sweep you up into it's rhythm, you won't be disappointed.

Summary:
Kari James, Urban Native, is a fan of heavy metal, ripped jeans, Stephen King novels, and dive bars. She spends most of her time at her favorite spot in Denver, the White Horse. When her cousin Debby finds an old family bracelet that once belonged to Kari’s mother, it inadvertently calls up both her mother’s ghost and a monstrous entity, and her willful ignorance about her past is no longer sustainable…

Haunted by visions of her mother and hunted by this mysterious creature, Kari must search for what happened to her mother all those years ago. Her father, permanently disabled from a car crash, can’t help her. Her Auntie Squeaker seems to know something but isn’t eager to give it all up at once. Debby’s anxious to help, but her controlling husband keeps getting in the way. Kari’s journey toward a truth long denied by both her family and law enforcement forces her to confront her dysfunctional relationships, thoughts about a friend she lost in childhood, and her desire for the one thing she’s always wanted but could never have.

Review: I loved this book and can’t wait to read more by the author. I was engaged the entire time and needed to know what happened to Kari’s mom.

This book was so unique with the mix of tribal/native culture and paranormal/horror combination. My husband is native Alaskan and the lifestyle Kari lives reminded me a lot of my husbands native side of the family. It was very relatiable if you have native culture in your family or have experience with native culture. I loved Erika’s style of writing. I also am obsessed with this cover..so cool! I also loved Kari’s musical task and how Erika brought that into the story to help build character.

I had never heard of this author before and now I need to go read everything she ever wrote.

Kari is a take-no-shit, Indigenous bartender with a love for all things metal and Stephen King. When her cousin, Debby, finds a bracelet that belonged to Kari's presumed dead mother, Kari feels a thrum of power from it. Kari begins to see her mothers' ghost along with other visions. I loved haunted heirlooms and generational hauntings so this book was EVERYTHING. Debby encourages her to dig into the past and they go on a wild ride, trying to discover the secret of her mothers' dissapearance.

The imagery and vibes of this book are unmatched. This was both plot AND charcter driven and I was never bored in the slightest. Since paranormal stuff starts pretty early on I did expect it to be a little faster paced than it was, but it was fine because I loved the discovery of all the different layers of Kari, her relationship with Debby and her husband, and the dull heartache she experienced being a caretaker for her father. I definitely feel like all the build-up was worth it and I was super anxious the whole book. The end twist didn't suprise me too much but I loved the conclusion all the same. This is an important book about native culture, cycles of trauma, monsters and grief. Literally can't reccomend this enough. If you like Stephen Graham Jones, you will love this book.

I did listen to this as an audiobook and I really liked the narrator. However, this is one of those that would be just as great as a physical copy.A huge thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook. It’s about tragedy without being an emotional read. It’s a murder mystery with a side of a ghost story. I enjoyed that aspect because it’s different but I wish the ghost aspect played more into the story, rather than just being there. I enjoyed feeling like I was trying to figure out the mystery alongside the characters. There was a plot twist that I didn’t see coming. It was fast paced and I didn’t want to stop listening. It’s almost like a horror movie, with its darkness but i would say it was more of a thriller. I loved that there were diverse characters. Such a refreshing and interesting book!

This is the first book I have read/listened to by Erika T. Wurth. I really enjoy the main character, Kari James. I also enjoyed the other characters in the book. The story was interesting. I enjoyed seeing through the main characters'' eyes what was going on. Whether it was her visions, her past life, and her present life, it was compelling. The narrator, Tonantzin Carmelo, did a wonderful job telling the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. This is one of the best books I've read this year. It was a perfect mix of horror, mystery, and family drama. The main character, Kari, an "urban Indian" of Apache and Chickasaw descent, was so delightfully snarky and had so much attitude, but she was also a well-rounded character in that she had vulnerability and things that haunted her from her past. She was one of the best main characters I've read in a while, and it was amazing to read through her eyes. Loved her punk-rock style and her obsession with Stephen King, which actually plays a big part in the plot.

The twists were so good they almost gave me whiplash; there was just enough foreshadowing and hints to give the reader a sense of satisfaction when one was revealed, but we were still kept guessing the entire time. Filled with heart-pounding suspense that made me not want to stop reading. I loved reading about Kari and her family's history and their connection with Native Americans of the past (no spoilers). The ending was also perfect for Kari's story.

I loved this book so much I bought a physical copy before I was even done listening to the ALC. Highly recommend this to everyone.

Kari James has a bit of a dark past. There's her missing mother, her father, who suffered a brain injury in an accident and is unable to care for himself, as well as a best friend lost to their lifestyle choices. Now in her 30s, living back in her hometown of Denver, Colorado, Kari works, takes care of her Dad and in her downtime, enjoys reading, or having a few beers at the White Horse, her favorite local watering hole.

Kari's cousin, Debby, is her closest friend. The person she can count on the most. The two spend quite a bit of time together, but would probably be together even more if it wasn't for Debby's overbearing husband.

One night while Kari is drinking at the White Horse, Debby arrives. As they chat, Debby presents her with a bracelet that she found while doing some cleaning. It used to belong to Kari's Mom. As soon as Kari lays hands on the antique, traditionally-engraved bracelet, she feels a unique energy course through her. This is something powerful.

Kari begins being plagued by dreams and visions, of her mother, of her past, of something dark and dangerous lurking just outside her vision. She's haunted. Kari, not unlike myself, has always been a fan of just keeping the past buried. Some events are too painful to dwell upon; they're best dealt with if they're not.

Kari had always been told her mother left them. Now she's not as sure that was the case. She begins to dig. She feels compelled to finally find the truth. Is her mother still alive, is she dead?

Kari's also sort of forced to deal with her own past, life choices and the loss of her best friend, Jamie. Kari needs to overcome her own guilt, in addition to her grief, in order to move forward with her life.

White Horse is a beautifully-told story. I loved the dark and gritty tone of it all. I could picture everything Kari was experiencing, but it was like watching a Horror movie where the setting is always kind of dark. Where you feel like you are squinting because you're trying so hard not to miss what's happening.

I also really enjoyed the themes explored. It was layered, emotional, powerful, and the Indigenous lore and concepts involved in the story were fantastic. There's quite a bit of mystery surrounding Kari's family and early-life. I liked how Wurth gradually revealed the truth. It was done slowly, but in a way that kept me interested from the very start.

The pace and tension continues to build as you learn more. By the end, I was so freaking invested. I had to know the truth!

There were some things that I wasn't crazy about, but not many. For example, Debby's husband's presence occasionally kicked me out of the story, he was so terrible. Also, some aspects did become a little muddled for me personally, particularly surrounding the focus on The Shining. I think I get it, but I'm not a hundred on it. I may need to read it again to clear up some things.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this story; investigating the long-held family secrets within this one Urban Indigenous family. I listened to the audiobook and would definitely recommend that format. It was well-done and just a great story to sit and listen to. The texture of the grief, the guilt, I felt it. I connected with Kari. Wurth did a great job developing her character. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am going to remember this one for a long time.

White Horse by Erika Wurth follows the main character Kari on a journey of grief and generational trauma. Kari is 35 and surviving rather than living because of her unresolved trauma from the disappearance of her mother and the death of her childhood best friend. After her cousin gives her a bracelet that connects her to her mother, Kari begins to unravel what happened to her mother and finally process her emotions and trauma.
The narrator, Tonantzin Carmelo, brought life to the story. While listening to the audiobook the characters felt distinct. The writing and narration went well together.




Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

One night at the White Horse Karis cousin Debbie hands Kari a bracelet that once belonged to her mother. Karis mother abandoned her 2 days after giving birth to her and her disappearance caused her father such immense heart break he ends up in an accident that causes him brain damage. Kari has resented her mother ever since. Upon receiving the bracalet she begins to see visions of her wounded mother and it is revealed that the bracelet has healing powers. She goes on a mission and tries to find out what happened to her mother, in hopes that she can heal her father with the bracelet but what exactly will Kari find out about her mother’s disappearance?


I finished this read in a day that’s how much I enjoyed this. I thought the beginning was a little slow, but once it picked up it got really good. I wish it included more of Karis family history but none the less I still ended up going into a spiral of research after finishing this up. I 100% recommend!

I wasn’t a fan of White Horse for several reasons, but I think this was also a case of my reading experience being negatively affected by my dislike for the audiobook narrator. I found the narrator to often be distracting in her performance—she paused at very odd moments, like between adjectives or where you could imagine a comma in a sentence, which regularly took me out of the story. On a story level, though, I didn’t connect a ton to the characters, though I found the mystery compelling. My real confusion with this book was how much it suddenly turned into a book about The Shining for a while, but for no real purpose. We spent so much time visiting the hotel that inspired The Shining and learned so many details about the tour of the hotel, but what real purpose did that serve to this story? I’m a fan of The Shining myself, but this felt like an awkward way to shoehorn in something the author cares about in a way that felt inorganic to the story. I wish I’d been a bigger fan.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

White Horse is a gritty horror novel about grief, trauma, addiction, multiracial Indigenous identity, and healing. Part paranormal/light horror, part mystery, it follows a woman being haunted by the spirit of her mother and her quest to uncover what really happened to the woman who disappeared when she was only two days old. Along the way she will be forced to confront the demons of her past in order to move forward into a better future.

While it's not super scary per se, White Horse is a richly layered narrative with a compelling heroine who goes on a real journey. There is a lot of loss and trauma, but also love and support. I don't want to say too much, but this novel is well worth your time and I'm glad I was made aware of it. The audio narrator is perfect for the project. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings include depictions of drug and alcohol addiction, death, grief, violence including gun violence, mentions of police violence toward indigenous protesters, molestation (not depicted on page), incest (not depicted on page), murder

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth was quite a riveting and atmospheric book. It was a perfect choice for this time of the year with Halloween approaching. I would describe White Horse as a mystery/thriller. The beginning was a little slow for me. It got better and moved at a faster pace as the book progressed. I listened to the audiobook of White Horse that was very well narrated by Tonantzin Carmelo.

Thirty five years ago, an Indigenous woman went missing. Her husband reported her disappearance. The woman had given birth to a daughter just two days prior to her reported disappearance. Since the body was never discovered, the police ruled it as a disappearance and closed the case. Just one more Indigenous woman gone missing! The husband cared for his two day old daughter until he had a car accident that left him disabled. Roles switched and the young girl grew up and became the care giver for her disabled father. That baby was now thirty-five years old. Her name was Kari James. She did not have the easiest time growing up. Kari had always held a grudge against her mother for leaving her. In fact, she hated her mother and let everyone know how she felt. It was no secret how Kari felt about being abandoned by her mother. Kari grew up in Denver and still lived there.

One day, Kari was at The White Horse, a local and very popular bar, when her cousin Debby joined her. Debby was Kari’s older cousin and basically her only friend. As the two sat side by side, Debby gave Kari a bracelet that had belonged to Kari’s mother. As Kari unwrapped the bracelet she noticed symbols and drawings on the bracelet. As Kari held the bracelet in her hand a strange energy passed through her. Kari began to see visions of her mother from long ago. She felt that her mother needed her help. The bracelet had once belonged to Kari’s mother. It had been in her family for a very long time. Did someone want Kari to have the bracelet? Why now?

Kari began to see her mother’s ghost in random places when she least expected to see her. She also began to have strange and scary dreams. In her nightmares, Kari saw her mother being chased by a monster. Why was a monster chasing her mother? What could her dreams and visions mean? Kari tried to connect the dots through her visions and dreams to discover what had really happened to her mother all those years ago. Would Kari be able to put the pieces together and discover the truth about her mother’s disappearance after all this time?

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of White Horse by Erika T. Wurth. This was the first book I had read by this author but I will look for future books by her. For me, some of the visions and nightmares were a little OTT but I might be in the minority. Spooky books centered around ghost sightings and scary monsters are not in my comfort zone. I did enjoy the ending, though, and did not see it coming. Overall, I enjoyed listening to White Horse and would recommend it if you are looking for a haunting and dark at times type of book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to White Horse by Erika T. Wurth through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I finished White Horse I could not wait to get a copy for my wife and talk about it. We are both fans of Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain and I felt this was the adult version of that. I loved Dark and Shallow Lies but the characters are young making it harder to relate to them as I get older. In White Horse Kari and I are the same age making it easier to relate.

The story was enthralling. Kari finds an old bracelet that belonged to her mother, after holding it she begins to be haunted by her mother's ghost. Her mom was presumed dead after she disappeared just two days after Kari was born. With help from her best friend Debbie and her Auntie Squeaker, she knows what she has to do. She has to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance to put her spirit at ease and officially transfer ownership of her bracelet to herself.

White horse deals with ghosts and other settings that make you suspend your belief of reality but it does it in a way that still keeps the story relatable and very grounded. This was due to the excellent writing of Erika T. Wurth.

As a character you can’t help but love Kari and her best friend Debbie. They are extremely likable and go through so much growth throughout the story. I love where they all are by the end. I recommend White Horse to anyone.

Thank you Macmillan audio for providing me with an ALC.

I’ve been waiting for this novel to come out! This was one of my most anticipated reads and let me tell you IT DELIVERED!!!

I wish I had a EBOOK copy since I was not a big of a fan of the audio narrator ( but that’s just a personal thing) But the novel was too good for me to DNF just bc I did not like the narrator. ( I’m not that petty)

35 year old Kari was an indigenous women who had so much hurt/pain due to a sequence of dramatic events in her life. Losing her mother at an early age, Her BF death, her father was disabled due to a car accident that left him brain damaged and so basically.. there’s a lot of trauma that she had not dealt with but it seems it’s time to.

She’s a metal head , horror novel/movie lover, addict, alcoholic, Stephen King fan and well.. she’s just perfect. Like a broken doll..

“ You seem like a lone wolf, but even lone wolfs have a pack”

The talks of missing indigenous and black & Brown women was a hit for me. Rvcism against these communities was a must for this novel with a lot of folklore and history. It was really nice how Kari’s character developed and once you had a full picture of who she was, you couldn’t help but fall in love with her.

The struggles with her identity ( as an indigenous women ) and all of her pain, hurt and trauma made her character so relatable ! I hLOVE Kari.. I see a little of myself in Kari.. and i think this Thriller/Paranormal/ Horror novel would be a HIT!