In Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker, Cora Zeng finds out that Covid-19 pandemic is the least of her problems. “Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train. Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.” Pew Research Center reported, “Following the coronavirus outbreak, reports of discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans increased. Asian Americans felt so threatened that they changed their daily routine due to their concerns of threats and attacks.” Cora follows certain cleaning practices during the pandemic as well as wearing a face mask. (Cue your own personal pandemic rituals and memories.) But Cora has to contend with hungry ghosts as well. This was an interesting take on surviving the pandemic along with everything that was lost. “Apparently people do strange things when they’re scared of dying, and one of them is hoarding toilet paper.” Natalie Naudus provides narration for the audiobook with perfect tone, inflection, and pace. ALC was provided by Harlequin Audio via NetGalley. I received an audiobook listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is fantastic. I couldn't help but be drawn into the world of Cora Zeng. She's a crime scene cleaner and a germaphobe, trying to survive during the pandemic in NYC while being haunted by a ghost. Her dark backstory, witnessing her sister being pushed in front of a train, adds a complicated layer of intrigue that causes Cora to spiral. This book dives into so many issues, dealing with racism, grief, and mental health, while giving you a serious case of the creeps. I also loved the inclusion of the Buddhist concept of hungry ghosts. The narration was also well done and immersive. I highly recommend this book for horror and paranormal fans.

She has a really cool and creepy job and that was awesome. Didn't love the Covid theme - honestly I think it's actually too far removed from Covid for that to have any impact on me and therefore was just kind of flat. The audio was good at 1.75x. I was hoping to like this more than I did - I think I'm just over the "save the sister" and "obsessed with dead sister" trope from fantasy books and so I disconnected a little.

This book chewed me up, spit me out, and whispered, “you good?” (Dear reader, I was not.)

When I tell you this book has one of the most EPIC first chapters I’ve ever read, I am not exaggerating. My jaw hit the floor, my eyes bugged out of my head, I pulled the covers up to my chin and settled in for a long night of reading because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to put it down. Some books whisper, some books shout, BAT EATER sinks its teeth into your flesh and drags you into the shadows.

When Cora Zeng, a young woman with severe OCD, suffers an unspeakable trauma, she takes a job as a crime scene cleaner and finds herself haunted by more than just the ghosts of her past. There’s a serial killer in New York City, and they’re killing Asian women.
Set during the pandemic amidst the fear and rising violence against Asian Americans, Bat Eater doesn’t flinch. It asks you to stare down what hurts (and haunts) and asks you to sit with it. To listen.

This is horror in its most visceral, terrifying form. Steeped in Chinese folklore, the hauntings drip with dread, and there are some truly gruesome moments I wish I could scrub from my brain (in a good way?). Baker’s writing is lyrical, brutal, and tender all at once. It’s horror with heart that will haunt you long after the last page. This isn’t just a ghost story. It’s a reckoning.

Finally, I have to acknowledge the author’s note. I put a few quotes in the photos above, but this line really stood out: “Do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”

Not only is this one of my favorite books of the year, it’s also my new favorite horror novel. A must-read for horror fans.

🦇 FEELS LIKE: holding your breath for 300 pages, a scream stuck in your throat, cold chills coating your skin

🦇 READ IF YOU LIKE: Trauma + complex grief + OCD rep, gruesome deaths you can’t unsee, hauntings, scathing social commentary, horror with depth

*Thank you to @HTPHive for the gifted eARC!

Thank you to Harlequin Books and NetGalley for my review copy. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was a bit of a wild ride. This is the first COVID-era book I’ve read. Seeing how Asian-Americans were treated during and after the epidemic was eye-opening, shocking, and so sad. I love a sister story and this one was filled with emotion. I liked the empowerment Cora felt as the story progressed - her desire to investigate not only the death of her sister but also the women who were being stalked and killed by racist, ignorant people. She went from always needing to be “looked after” by her sister to being able to function independently and make friends in her daily life.

I often think that our everyday realities make the scariest horror stories, and this was no exception. 4 stars!

I was intrigued by the combination of horror and murder mystery in this book. The aspects of the ghosts were decently scary and absolutely descriptively gory. The murder mystery was not what I was expecting but was completely heartbreaking. I did struggle through the pacing of this book, especially in the middle but overall, it was a unique story.

I absolutely devoured this novel. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Truly one of the best horror novels I have read in a long time.

At the height of the pandemic, Cora Zeng is already struggling with the uncertainty of the world. Then her sister is brutally murdered in front of her. “Bat eater” is all the man says as he pushes her sister in the path of an oncoming train. “Bat eater” are the words that will haunt Cora throughout the days of her life. In the months following Delilah’s death, Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner. The gore doesn’t bother her. Not after what she witnessed. When Cora begins discovering bats at the scene of these crimes, all involving Asian women, she can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection between them and her sister’s death.

This book is gruesome and not afraid to go there. The descriptions of the crime scenes Cora cleans are visceral and the author doesn’t shy away from the goriest of details. My heart broke for Cora time and time again. In the beginning of the novel, she struggles with her relationship to her sister and the generations that came before her. She’s rather timid and keeps to herself. I love the found family she establishes with Harvey and Yifei, and the bond she strengthens with her Auntie Zeng. Cora’s growth to a full on badass over the course of the novel made her so easy to root for. And please make sure to read the Author’s note at the end.

I tandem read this with the audiobook and Natalie Naudus did a great job bringing this book to life. Her narration added so much to the story and really helped heighten the feeling of unease. This is one you’ll be looking over your shoulder while listening to.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio, Mira,and NetGalley for a review copy.

This was just the right amount of bloody and scary mixed societal horror themes centering on a pandemic.

Thank you to @harlequinbooks @harlequinaudio and Netgalley for my gifted copy

4.5✨

I’m so glad I listen to this one! I felt more
Immersed in Cora’s world and things she was experiencing. She has a unique job of cleaner after death, and she starts to notice there has been more Asian-American women. Death, grief, and racism towards Asian-Americans this is full of a wild road of emotions. Cora’s story is a hard one with the death of her sister , her life is upside down. I really liked how this pulled her to wanting more answers for her sister and the other women. Her sisters presence gives you that dread and heavy feeling while Cora has to battle through it all!

It is a covid and aftermath surrounding book so if that is a trigger make sure you check out the warnings.

Thank you HTP Audio for the ALC and HTP / Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng in exchange for my honest review.

As soon as I started hearing about this one, I knew I wanted to read it, even though I don’t tend to read horror. And no one is more shocked than I am by how much I loved it! ⁣
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Let’s start with this cover…I’m obsessed with it. It perfectly embodies this story and sums up exactly how I felt while reading it – I wanted to stop at times because it’s such a tough, gritty, dark, difficult read and yet I couldn’t put it down…I couldn’t walk away. I was consumed with the way Baker told this story – her writing is lyrical yet brutal – again, much like this cover. ⁣
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Pick this up if you like:⁣
🦇 NYC settings⁣
🦇 Creepy AF stories⁣
🦇 Chinese folklore⁣
🦇 True Crime Plotline/Serial Killer???⁣
🦇 Pandemic story with social commentary ⁣
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I cannot recommend this book enough…not only for the fantastic storytelling but also because of the way it forces you to reflect on your own experiences during this time and about the larger issues at hand – racism, cultural identity and more. It really is quite a powerful book and I implore you, once you’ve finished reading the book, the make sure you read the author’s note…it’s just as powerful as her story! ⁣
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Audio thoughts: I did an immersive reading experience, loving the narration on this one. Natalie Naudus really does a phenomenal job bringing this book to life!

I got the opportunity to listen 🎧 to this book about a crime scene cleaner who witnesses her sisters tragic death. Her killers last words, “bat eater” haunt Cora. The book is narrated by Natalie Naudus. She does a great job bringing beauty to horrifying and gory read with her calm and melodic voice.

This book is set during the 2020 Covid pandemic, when people are on edge and the horrors of death from COVID and a serial killer are prominent. Cora must determine whether what she is experiencing is real or the result of the trauma(s) she has experienced.

The author does not shy away from brining her experiences and voice to the forefront in order to be heard. The book was meant to be thought provoking and educational. The character, Cora for me was hard to get behind, even being the main character but I did love the cover which is hauntingly gorgeous!

Thank you to author, Kylie Lee Baker, Publisher Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Kylie Lee Baker masterfully writes a chilling story that contains several mysteries centering around a seemingly mentally unstable dry cleaner turned corpse cleaner as she navigates the very real horrors of the world along with the paranormal. Unexpectedly gory, this will continually shock you with its unpredictability. The intense bodily descriptions will be physically felt and you will be part of the horror next to the characters. Horror is certainly the perfect genre for her to write and she consistently does so well.

Relationships and Characters
The characters are the highlight of this story. Every character is established in depth, and each has a unique backstory that has led them to where they are.

- Cora is an outstanding lead whose complexity and strangeness makes for an engrossing read. An extreme germaphobe dealing with gaps in her memory and possible mental instability, Cora is bordering on insanity. You are never sure what to believe with her, and her hyperfixations mixed with her personality that just lets things happen to her creates an interesting mix.

- Harvey and Yifie are Cora's traumatized co-workers who have to unfortunately endure racism and stereotypes. All three of them go along with their work, but begin to question the deaths as it becomes increasingly evident that there is a specific target for these killings.

- Paranormal entities play a huge part, and they are certainly creepy.

Engagement and Enjoyment
- This was such an engaging read! With endless twists, mysteries, and deaths, how could you not be invested? There are numerous times where you are abruptly reminded to not get comfortable because sinister things are always lurking. You will be captivated from start to finish.

Atmosphere and Setting
- Completely based in the real pandemic world and in the city, the atmosphere and setting accurately reflect what the world looked like. The descriptions of the crime scenes and railroads excelled in creating a suspenseful and eerie feeling that stuck throughout the book. Learning more about the characters and the situations allowed for a rising anger to seep into the environment that had you cheering even more for Cora. There was also underlying dark humor that broke up the seriousness.

Development and Plot
- First of all, what an opening chapter! Hooked right from the beginning, there was never a moment in the story where the intensity wavered. There are several aspects of this story that keep you interested and wanting to find answers, including murders, personal backstories and motivations, religious and familial themes, and the horrors of real life and paranormal life. With multiple moving parts, the intricacies of the world reveal themselves slowly and consistently to both satisfy your curiosity and also pique your interest to find out more. The way all of the stories were woven together was immaculate, and this has, personally, one of my favorite types of endings.

4.5☆

Thank you so much Kylie Lee Baker, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my genuine review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review. This one was a mix between heavy, real-world themes and gory, horror-filled fun. The author's note at the end of the novel was very impactful and powerful, and even if horror isn't your thing, I recommend finding this in a bookshop just to read that alone. I cannot imagine what it must've been like to be Asian in the United States whilst the pandemic was going on and having to deal with the vitriol they had to experience. From a novel perspective, Baker did a great job of blending folklore into the novel, and that was one of the most fascinating parts of this one to me. I wish there was a bit more of it in the novel and it was explored a bit deeper. This novel flew by, and I listened to the majority of it in one day, but I wish it was longer and that I had a bit more time to settle in with the characters so that when the horror started to really pop off, I felt a bit more deeply for them. The fact that Cora is a crime scene cleaner was a really nice touch and a way to add even more gore to the story. I would definitely read from Baker again in the future!

I devoured this book from the second I started listening to it! I was immediately engaged by the writing and the audiobook narrator, who gave a great voice to Cora's world and the people in it. I tend to shy away from books set during the pandemic, but this one offers a fresh and unsettling perspective that needs to be shared.

After witnessing a horrific death, Cora finds work as a crime scene cleaner. She doesn't mind the bloody messes too much. She's more worried about the germs and viruses of the pandemic and the weird things that keep happening around her. So much so that she ignores her aunt's advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell are said to open. But then she begins to notice that all the crime scenes she is cleaning lately are the bodies of East Asian women. Is there a serial killer on the loose? And should she have ignored her aunt?

Touching on themes of violence against women, racism, health, corruption, and trauma, Bat Eater is very effective at weaving a compelling story with elements of Chinese culture, horror, and stark realism that is set against a backdrop that feels unsettlingly familiar. I found Cora to be a complex and interesting character and I loved her coworkers/friends that gave both some comic relief and were great foils to her. The story had good twists and didn't shy away from the gore while staying rooted in the real elements at play. I found that the paranormal aspects helped ground the story even further.

The audiobook was immersive. It was always easy to tell who was speaking with the different voice inflections she used and it kept me engaged the whole way through.

Cora Zeng, a Chinese American woman, is already struggling with unemployment and rising xenophobia when her sister is brutally murdered in front of her. Desperate for income, she takes a job as a crime-scene cleaner, where she and her coworkers uncover a pattern of violence targeting Asian women, and as Cora delves deeper, the line between reality and nightmare starts to blur.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Baker doesn’t shy away from gore, psychological torment, or the grotesque, but the most terrifying elements are rooted in reality: the racism, isolation, and scapegoating Asian Americans faced during the pandemic.

Bat Eater is a masterpiece of modern horror. Brutal, thought-provoking, and impossible to forget. It’s a story about grief, identity, and the monsters both outside and within, wrapped in a mystery that will keep you hooked until the devastating end. If you can stomach its darkness, this is a must-read.

This novel shocked and terrified me, but not in the ways you may think. I knew there was was racism towards Asians during the major COVID outbreak. However, I was not aware of the extent. It reminds me about the state our country is in now. Where fear hides, often racism follows.
The book was beautifully written, even the gory horror scenes. I also enjoyed the voice of the narrator. 5 stars.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

“Cora knows all too well that the mangled clockwork of her mind doesn’t always respond to logical arguments, that the fact that something is objectively safe doesn’t mean her mind won’t short-circuit anyway, make her hyperventilate until her limbs lose so much oxygen she can’t stand up.”

🏮This one is about Cora, a young woman who is already struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic when her sister is brutally murdered, at once removing Cora’s closest relative, friend, and emotional centre. Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner, but with her sister gone, fear ramping up to a fever pitch, and racism rampant all around her, she’s adrift in a fog. When mysterious occurrences start happening all around her, Cora is at a loss whether it’s real, or whether he overwrought mind is conjuring it all up. 💀

🏮This book is absolutely not a simple scary story, and I love that about it. Truly good horror movies and books are a mirror, and they reflect real world terrors through a heightened and sometimes fantastical lens. We explore issues of racism (big trigger warning ⚠️). We explore grief and how to move on from it, and if it’s even possible. We explore issues of existential crises and identity exploration. Who was Cora without her sister who “made decisions”? Who is Cora now? She refers to herself as never having been real but “an echo of Delilah”, her sister. She sees herself as someone who never does anything for herself and cannot get anything right on her own. 💀

I listened to the audiobook for this one and it was great! Very well done. It’s possible that the audiobook made it slightly less scary so I’m tempted to go back and read one or two of the creepy/horror scenes to see if it affects the reading. I also found the Yifei voice to be a bit irritating but that may be because her character is a bit grating in general (she’s still a great side character and I did like her). I listened comfortably at 1.5x and there’s no distortion at 2x speed.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was so good and so gruesome. After witnessing the violent murder of her sister, Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner and begins to notice a disturbing connection between the horrific deaths of several Asian women while also maybe being haunted by her dead sister. Set during the COVID pandemic, this is a disturbing, gory, and ghostly story that will leave you angry and sick to your stomach. If that’s your thing, I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an ALC.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review

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⚝ Rating ⚝: 4.5✩ / 5✩’s

⚝ Review ⚝: This was absolutely unsettling and easily the best horror I have read in a *long* time. On top of the pre-COVID shutdown de ja vu when the world still seemed somewhat normal, being in the head of Cora Zeng as she struggles with the dangers of the world around her--dirt, germs, filth, sickness--added another layer to the story that often left my skin itching. Cora Zeng is a young, Asian American living in New York in 2020 with her sister, Delilah as the world is starting to spiral around them with COVID moving into the states. Now racists are making things even harder on them, right up until the night that Cora witnesses a man push her sister in front of a subway train, the final words both women hear from him being: "bat eater".

Less than a year later, the cops have no leads and Cora is convinced they never truly looked for the man who murdered her sister. She has now moved to a job on a crime scene clean up crew run by a Chinese immigrant who also runs the local dry cleaning shop. And a pattern is starting to form: Young Asian women are being brutally murdered in their apartments and bats, both alive and dead, are being left at the crime scenes. And through it all, the police and the media do not seem to be taking things seriously.

Cora, along with two friends from the crime scene clean up crew, are now invested in trying to figure out what is happening to Asian American women in New York while the pandemic continues to accelerate around them.

This book was a bloody, gory mess in the absolute best way. There were a few scenes that managed to leave me feeling a little queasy, which doesn't happen all that often. Maybe it was the matter-of-fact, borderline cavalier way that Cora observes the gore that is constantly around her since the murder of her sister. The relationships between the three primary characters, while often strained and a bit hesitant (especially on Cora's part) were believable and engaging and oh, my heart. I loved them all.

On top of the blood and guts is the supernatural look at Zhong Yuan Jie, or The Hungry Ghosts festival. Not only is Cora in a race against a possible serial killer, but she's being haunted by a ravenous ghost that will eat anything in its path--furniture, dishware, humans. I love learning about new things, even under the guise of a horror. As Cora is coming to grips with the reality that the Hungry Ghosts, the stories taught to her by one aunt, are real, the raining hellfire Christianity being taught to her by her other aunt are in a constant war in the back of Cora's mind as she tries to determine what she fears more: Hell and an angry God or Hungry Ghosts out for lethal revenge.

One of the greatest aspects of this book, I believe, is that Baker managed to take two genres that typically tend to overshadow each other when mixed, are equally expressed here in a way I can say that this book is both a Thriller/Suspense and a Horror, not a Horror with some thriller aspects, or a Thriller with some horror sprinkled in. It is equal parts Serial Killer thriller and a ghostly horror, and DAMN was it well executed.

⚝ Audio/Narrator⚝: I spent a good third of this book trying to figure out if I had heard this narrator before, before I finally decided to look her up. The answer is 'yes, yes I have', and I have loved her in everything I have listened to her in. Natalie Naudus is an audiobook narrating powerhouse! Great vocalizations as well as characterizations that does well to separate the characters from each other so it's easy to determine who is speaking when.

Was there a *touch* of predictability? Yes, but honestly, it was easy enough to overlook. This has 100% become my favorite horror book and I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to participate in the ARC process for this book. I'll excitedly read more from Kylie Lee Baker any time.

⚝ Representation ⚝: Chinese, Chinese American, Asian American, Mental Health

⚝ TWs ⚝: Mental Illness, Grief, Murder, Blood, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic (COVID-19), Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse/neglect, Car accident, Animal cruelty/death, Sexism, Racial slurs, Violence, Alcohol

My monthly reading breakdown for April will be posted to TikTok, IG, and Threads the first week of May.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Macmillian Audio, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Kylie Lee Baker, you are a genius and I love your work more than anything. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a unique take on horror, focusing on not just the mythology of China but also branching into the serial killer genre. I was nervous about this book, given the fact that the story is based in the COVID era. However, the way that it used the hate crimes against the Asian community to tell this story was perfect. I found that it wasn't the ghosts, but the humans that left me scared.