Cora does crime scene clean up for a living during a pandemic. At the same time there is a serial killer on the loose targeting the asian community and important people wanting to cover it up. Cora’s sister was tragically murdered leaving a hole in Cora. Cora starts to see things and with no medical reason she starts to think she is going crazy. Cora finds herself haunted by her sisters ghost and begins investigating her sisters death and it leads to so much more.

This story addresses racism, hate groups, superstitions, family issues, and religion. The story is tense, dark and very intriguing. It is fast paced and well written. It will have you questioning reality right along with Cora. Cora and her colleagues have seen and survived so much trauma its almost like they feel they deserve what is happening to them. They join Cora is trying to find out the truth.

I truly enjoyed the glimpse into Chinese mythology and tradition. The best part of this novel was that the imagery. It is so vivid that even though it is super natural you can visualize it easily what the author is describing. This novel moves quickly and will leave you on the edge of your seat!

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer yelled just two words: bat eater.

Since the gory incident of her sister’s murder in front of her, Cora can’t quite tell what’s real and what’s a product of her mind. In a 2020-pandemic consumed NYC, unidentifiable bloody chaos doesn’t really unsettle Cora— what truly bothers her are the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of strangers, the hidden viruses lurking in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table.

Despite her best efforts, Cora can’t shake the growing unease in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at the crime scenes she is hired to clean, or the unnerving fact that all of these recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women. Never mind the small objects that seem to be shifting in her minimalistic apartment, or the food slowly going missing from the kitchen…

This novel expertly blends both supernatural and physical horror with razor-sharp social commentary, intentionally disturbing readers on multiple levels. It confronts uncomfortable truths, including the fetishization of Asian women, the painful reality of systemic racism, hate crimes, police brutality, and media manipulation. It is gory, bleak, and beautifully written. So what I mean to say is : fellow readers, prepare yourself, this isn’t just a campy romp steeped with Chinese lore. This is a journey of finding one’s own identity and faith, the unspoken bond of friends who understand, and strength in the face of all such odds.

I rarely have nightmares after consuming any type of horror media (something I do quite a bit of), but this story crept into my dreams the way so many spine-chilling things do: through the creaks of my sleeping house, the rattle of unsettled plumbing, the shadows of trees swaying through the windows. I was thoroughly on edge.

Cora will discover that you can’t simply ignore hungry ghosts, and if you also want to find yourself leaving the lights on for safety right alongside our main character — you’ll pick this book up.

As soon as I saw Illumicrate was featuring this book in their Evernight subscription, I knew I was going to fork over the $50 for it. I also immediately requested an eARC and ALC. I received all three as well as a physical ARC ✨blessed✨

Lemme tell you: I'm hoarding it all because it really is that good.

Cora Zeng is a biracial Chinese American living in Chinatown NYC with her half-sister. It is March 2020 and the recently unemployed sisters have just secured the only roll of toilet paper they could find and they are awaiting a very delayed subway (triple whammy because it's the end times). Just as the train is rolling into the station, a white man shouts "bat eater" before shoving Cora's sister in front of said train. Chapter 1 ends with Cora covered in her sister's blood, standing next to her headless body. Safe to say: this is going to be a gorey ride!

The book proceeds to August 2020 whence Cora has secured a job as a crime scene cleaner. She is cleaning out what is clearly a 🔪 scene where an Asian woman was the victim when the drain clogs. No stranger to the disgusting, Cora unclogs the drain only to pull out a bat carcass. This is the first in a string of scenes where the victim is an Asian woman and there are bats and bat carcasses on scene. She and her two Chinese team members battle casual and overt racism every day during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it's hard to not see these as a connected string of hate crimes.

To make matters worse, the eighth month is the Hungry Ghost month in Chinese mythology. Being an ABC Chinglish-speaking daughter to a mid-western mom, Cora doesn't put much stock into Chinese superstitions. However, it does seem that her sister is haunting her. Given Cora's history of mental illness, however, she is unsure if she is being haunted or if she needs to seek psychiatric help again. But it also seems that the ghost wants her to solve her sister's unsolved murder. After breaking down to her coworkers, who very much believe in ghosts given their sordid pasts, the team goes on the hunt to solve the crime so that her sister may get to rest.

I thought I knew how this mystery was going to unfold from the start, but boy howdy, I was wrong.

<Spoiler>Given Cora's internal monologue in Chapter 1 and the likelihood of her being an unreliable narrator, I definitely thought Cora was the guilty party and that the ghosts and the bats were all figments of her imagination. But in fact, there are ghosts and they all want their pound of flesh.</spoiler>

I adored the connections that Cora unwittingly made with her coworkers after a string of family abandonment. The author says this is the most depressing book she has written to date and in many ways, this book is full of tragedy and unfortunately, there's a lot of truth and reality in the tragedies examined. However, there was love and joy and growth to balance it out. Oh, and an epic scorched earth ending.

Full stars for an important story well told.

Disclosures: ARCs and ALC received as an influencer with The Hive/HTP Books. Opinions are my own as well as the money I spent on the special edition of this book :)

I hate to say. I am not a fan of books set during the Pandemic. I also was not a huge fan of the third person narration. It made it difficult to continue reading.

The atmosphere in this book is very tense and chilling while having moments of brevity from the characters that I appreciated and enjoyed and the switch between both was very well done. I enjoyed the character relations in this book, as the character is very much alone at the start of this book and feels very much like an outcast and she sometimes acts as if she prefers that but she is trying more to be a whole person by the end of the book as a lot of this is her trying to figure out what she wants in life instead of just floating through it.

This story is different than many others being released. It was engaging and paced well. I found myself thinking about this book before, during, and after. I will be getting a copy for my home library. I can’t wait to see what the author does next. Thank you for the advanced copy.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker is a third person-POV horror taking place during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 in New York. Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah are just standing at the train station when a man pushes Delilah towards a train and it kills her. Cora is traumatized and spends most of her days cleaning up crime scenes with her two friends, Harvey and Yifei, with many of their recent cases being young Asian women. But when her sister comes back as a hungry ghost, Cora is going to be forced out of her comfort zone.

One of the things I thought was such an interesting choice on Kylie Lee Baker’s part was having Cora be something of a germaphobe pre-COVID. She wore gloves when riding public transport and wore masks and had a strong idea of how long to wash her hands before the pandemic. COVID ends up hiding her compulsions from other people and making her seem responsible instead of bizarre. As someone who had a parent with an autoimmune disease, there were certain habits people developed during COVID that I already had, so this detail helped me relate more to Cora while also adding an entire layer to her character.

Anti-Asian hate plays just as much of a part as COVID does in the part. The way these young women are killed is horrific and clearly fueled by racism that was amplified by how people talked about the virus. Cora and her sister are called ‘bat eater’ and multiple people call COVID the ‘China virus’ in the book. It is a lot, but this is only a taste of what so many Asian Americans experience during and after COVID and also touches on the exotification and fetishization of Asian women. In the author’s note, Kylie Lee Baker asks her readers to also keep in mind the discrimination faced by all BIPOC and makes mention of the Black Lives Matter movement in the book and the corruption of the police department. I’m sure there are people who will never want to read a COVID book, but if there is any genre book centering COVID that I would suggest they read, it would be this one because anti-Asian hate reached such a fever pitch and we cannot forget that nor the various ways all people of color are treated in America.

The use of hungry ghosts added a supernatural element to what is already a very scary plot: an Asian woman who cleans up crime scenes keeps being confronted by the murder of Asian women, many being of Chinese descent, like her, shortly after the murder of her sister. The plot could have stayed away from supernatural elements and gone a million different directions, but the hungry ghosts seeking revenge and pushing Cora to leave her sterilized environment really brought everything home for me. So many people turn to faith in times of crisis and while Cora doesn’t, her father’s culture’s beliefs do find her.
Content warning for racism, gore, and police corruption

I would recommend this to anyone looking for genre fiction exploring COVID-19 and readers looking for a contemporary horror with hungry ghosts

Wow. Pandemic based novels can be very hit or miss for me, but this one was definitely a hit. I admire authors that delve into the world of social commentary horror. Cora and her sidekicks are so likeable, you easily get sucked into the story before you even really know what’s going to happen. The unease and tension only continues to build from there. Humans really make for the best horror villains and this novel proves that again and again. The authors note is a must read and really drives home the overarching themes of this must-read story. Aside from that, the story of friendship and family is also heartwarming yet devastating.

Compelling contemporary horror, offering a profound commentary on societal issues through a gripping and eerie narrative. Really, really impressive stuff.

This book left me speechless! I devoured it in 24 hours, it was absolutely amazing. This is the first (and likely last for a while) pandemic related book that I've even wanted to read or finished. I'm generally not ready to go there, but this was a visceral experience that sucked me in and I could not stop.

This was such a profoundly unsettling book, seeing as the horrors of 2020 and what the Asian community endured is still so fresh. I really love the uptick I've been seeing in real world issues placed into horror reads so that people actually see the issues (hopefully). The authors note at the end of this is one of the best I've read and it hits hard. This is one of those stories that will sit in my head for a very long time.

I received an advance reader copy, and advance listener copy of Bat Eater and other names for Cora Zang and WOW. This story was an extremely dark, graphic, and thought provoking look into the Covid pandemic and its effect on the Asian American population. Our main character Cora witness something extremely haunting and has to cope with her grief, while also dealing with racism, corruption, and misogyny. The book was so beautifully written and graphic, and the narrator really brought this to life in the audiobook. Definetly a must read for anyone who likes horror and ghost stories.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Audio & Harlequin Trade Publishing for both the ARC & the ALC.

I did a tandem read of this book. I liked the narrator. She did a good job differentiating voices between the characters.

Make sure to check your triggers before reading this book. It’s set in the beginning of the Covid pandemic and has heavy themes of racism, misogyny and there’s gore as well.

This book starts off with little build up. It’s the beginning of the pandemic and Cora and her sister are searching for toilet paper. While waiting for a train in NYC her sister is pushed in front of an oncoming train by a racist white man.

Shortly after, Cora gets a job cleaning up crime scenes and we learn that more Asian women are being murdered by what appears to be a serial killer. On top of that Cora starts to think the ghost of her sister may be haunting her.

Throughout this book we learn more about Cora, her complicated relationship with her sister and other family members. Her feelings of not fitting in enough or knowing enough about her culture. Her self doubts and the things she deals with being Asian in the US during the pandemic.

There were times I felt the pacing was a little slow, and I wish things had gone a little differently with a couple of the characters, but overall, I thought this was a well written book that sheds light on a very real problem that is still an issue.

Gory, gruesome and ghostly. A blend of heartbreak and humor and social commentary I could not look away from. I was admittedly skeptical when I realized how big of a plot point Covid played in this book but it quickly became evident that this was no run of the mill, mention how annoying it is and move on, sort of thing. Exploring the anti-Chinese/Asian racism that exploded amid the pandemic through a serial killer/ghost story offered a perspective I hadn’t had much direct exposure to.

Starting with one of the most viscerally disturbing opening chapters I’ve ever read, I was hooked immediately and could not stop until the bitter end. Horror has always been, in my opinion, one of the best, most effective avenues for social commentary. Bat Eater perfectly encapsulates a very specific moment in time that showed how fear lends itself to some of the worst, most heinous parts of humanity without sacrificing itself to some copy paste platitudes we’re overly familiar with.

Keeping this review short and sweet in an effort to not give too much away but without a doubt this will be on my list of year end favorites.

If audiobooks are your thing, this was fantastic to listen to.

Lots of trigger warnings for violence/racism/xenophobia/animal abuse.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Harlequin for advanced audio and e-book copies in exchange for review.

This had the potential to be great, but I had some major gripes with it.

The first and last 25% were great! Gory, tense, and excellent social commentary; it was what I was expecting from the entire novel, but unfortunately it wasn't what I got.

The middle 50%, was an absolute slog to get through; if I didn't have an ALC of the audiobook alongside the eARC, I probably would have DNF'd it after the first third. The plot was completely stagnant as the main character and her friends ran around like a lackluster episode of Scooby-Doo. It felt very confused, like it didn't know if it wanted to focus on the thriller/crime elements or the paranormal elements; if an effort was make to blend the two, it was done very poorly.

I'm willing to give another adult horror standalone from this author a try in the future, but this just missed the mark for me.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed "Diavola" by Jennifer Marie Thorne.

There’s a lot to unpack here especially as the story develops but we get it all: gore, supernatural horror, and a gothic ghost mystery. Did I mention there’s also a serial killer because that is the scary cherry on top. This one is so distinctive as it relates to the horror genre because it is layered so meticulously. The juxtaposition of a lost, soft-souled Cora combined with the hard reality of the trauma and aftermath of the pandemic sets this one in its own lane. I initially gave this 4 stars but I had to bump it up to 4.5.

(I received an ARC of this from Netgalley!)

This was a highly anticipated read for me, and BOY did it deliver.

The story is set in 2020 NYC, so...beginning of the pandemic. I was a little apprehensive about reading a pandemic horror book, but I think that this book was honestly brilliant.

The main character, Cora, is biracial (Chinese/White) who witnesses her sister be murdered (via getting pushed in front of a train) in an act of pandemic-fuled anti-Asian hate. Following her sister's death, Cora has to take a job--any job--to pay the rent, and she winds up with job as a crime scene cleaner. The gory scenes don't bother her as much as germs, the thought of covid, and the fear that any one of her fellow New Yorkers might hate her simply for being Asian in the wake of the "China disease," as they call it.

In the course of her crime scene job, she and her co-workers start to suspect that there is a serial killer specifically targetting Asian women. On top of this, Cora starts to see the ghost of her dead sister, and things get--wild.

Again, I thought this book was so well done. It blended the themes of racism, trauma, grief, and mental health with the horror aspects (ghosts, murder, gore) in a way that really worked for me. Some of the themes here are undeniably heavy, which is worth noting. In particular, it captured very well the anxiety of those early Covid-days in NYC, and especially how Asian folks must have felt in the wake of everyone blaming Covid on China. Still, I felt like the horror/mystery/suspense elements were executed well and really had me hooked on the story, even despite how bleak the backdrop of things was for these characters.

I enjoyed, too, learning about aspects of Asian culture that I was unfamiliar with (ie the whole concept of "Hungry Ghosts," which plays a major role in the story).

Definitely would recommend checking this one out.

This was my favorite read last month. I loved Cora and her story was compelling. The voice was strong and I felt the plight of AAPI people during Covid. I *think* this book may have just made a horror reader of me.

Baker was meant to write horror, that's for sure! I was so excited to hear of her adult debut in the genre, and overall, Bat Eater did not disappoint.
There were just a few things that felt a bit jarring. Some of the main points of this book were delivered quite heavy handedly, especially towards the end. Yifei’s monologue before the car crash comes to mind, as well as Cora’s suddenly, well-versed thoughts when for most of the book she was quite disconnected and numb?

However I do think Baker took this subject matter and crafted a compelling horror novel. I ended up paging through this book quickly, unable to put it down! And her author’s note at the end really tied it together well for me.

Cora Zang is a crime scene cleaner amid the pandemic when she witnesses a horrific act of violence—her sister being pushed in front of a train, another victim of the rising racism against East Asian people. As she grapples with her grief, unexplained teeth marks begin appearing on her coffee table. Soon, Cora realizes that something lurks in the shadows—something hungry.

Kylie Lee Baker masterfully blends real-world horror with the eerie comfort of the supernatural. As in her other works, Baker walks the razor’s edge between fantasy and reality, crafting a chilling story where the most terrifying horrors stem from human actions. Eloquently and reflective, readers are captured from the first page.