This was a journey, it was so good. The very first chapter was shocking and the book was riddled with uncomfortable truths about covid, racism, grief, etc... This book changed my brain chemistry as I listened to the story. This book was well written and didn't hold back, I was expecting to feel some things but the scenes of death and emotion just really gave me different feelings. My heart hurt, my eyes cried and I felt myself cheering on the characters. I felt sick at points and honestly I feel like it was all for a reason. The story was coherent and worth every gory detail from start to finish. I'm going to be buying a copy of the hardcover to put on my trophy shelf.

First, I want to thank Harlequin Audio for providing me with a copy of this novel. The following review reflects my honest thoughts on it.

I requested this book because I loved the title, though I didn’t know much about it aside from the fact that it was a horror novel set during the COVID pandemic.

The story follows Cora, a young woman from a Chinese family who works as a crime scene cleaner. Cora is obsessed with cleanliness and avoiding contact with any viruses or bacteria. She is also haunted by a terrifying ghost, which she believes is the spirit of her sister, who was killed in front of her not long ago.

As Cora goes about her days, trying to avoid encounters with the ghost, she and her work crew begin to notice that a disturbing number of Asian women are being killed in New York City and there´s always a dead bat with them. And before they realize it, they find themselves drawn into an investigation, as the killer might also be the one responsible for Cora’s sister’s death.

This is a horror novel that explores themes of loneliness, discrimination, hatred, and the scapegoating of minorities to deflect society’s larger issues. It’s a tragic story, not a happy one, and it is definitely gore.

Did I enjoy it? Honestly, I’m not sure.

I appreciated the book as a whole. Some scenes and concepts are particularly good, and the cast of characters is fantastic.

However, in certain areas, the book falls short. For instance, there are moments where the paranormal elements could have used more explanation, but instead, they either go unexplained or contradict what was established earlier in the story. I also wasn’t fond of the vague setting. The book is set in New York City, yet it never really feels like it. The subway stations are unnamed, the parks are never identified and there’s no real sense of place. It could have been any city. The narrative often describes things like “we took the subway to the nearest park,” which makes the setting feel distant. I would have liked to feel like I was in NYC. The decision to name the city but not describe it was a bit odd.

I did enjoy the plot twists and the ending, though a couple of events left me feeling sad because they seemed unnecessary. It felt like they were included just for shock value or to heighten the gore, rather than moving the plot forward. There were also some scenes that didn’t make sense to me, like one where Cora is cleaning a crypt near a church (I won’t give away more details than that).

Overall, it was an interesting book with some cool elements, but it had the potential to be so much better than it turned out to be. I almost wish this had been a beta manuscript, still needing some final edits.

Do I recommend it? Only if you’re a fan of gory books. As a mystery, it didn’t fully satisfy me.

I am absolutely blown away by this book! I finished it in one day because I was enraptured. It's a perfect balance of social commentary and horror. It takes place in NYC during the Covid pandemic and explores the racial climate toward the Asian community at that time. It was infuriating, but sadly a real reflection. Cora is a crime scene cleaner and can't help but notice the uptick in murders against females in the East Asian community. Reeling from the brutal loss of her sister, a murderer in town killing women whose profile she fits, and on top of all that, she is being haunted by a literal hungry ghost. An incredible mix of psychological, paranormal, folklore and real-world horror! There are so many layers to this one. I devoured this book and wouldn't even consider rating it less than 5 stars.

* Rounded up from 3.5 stars.

Cora is a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown New York who has dealt with a lot of trauma in her life. She witnessed her sister's murder by being pushed in front of a train, being haunted by hungry ghosts, a serial killer that refers to the Asians he kills (including her sister) as "Bat Eaters", and extreme racism against Asians during the pandemic.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is an extremely unique book. Cora is most definitely has extreme anxiety over getting sick with Covid. She is obsessive about doing things to not catch it. She also does not believe her Aunt when she speaks to her about Hungry Ghosts and how to get rid of one, until she starts being haunted. All the while she is cleaning up Crime Scenes that are left behind by the "Bat Eater" Serial Killer. To say the least, she has a lot on her plate.

This book is filled with quirky characters that you will enjoy. From Cora's Aunt to her crime scene cleaner friends, they will keep you entertained.

*I read this book via audiobook, which I recommend. The narrator did a fantastic job.*

This is not an easy book to read or listen to. Through the lens of Cora Zeng Baker captures what is was like for Asians in 2020. She does so through the lens of a story of a serial killer murdering Asian individuals in New York City and no one caring.

Baker does not shy away from hard truths and gives her all in presenting details that turn the stomach. But in doing so she captures the atmosphere so well. Baker is a master at her craft.

There was A LOT being addressed in this book: Covid-19 pandemic, racism, police corruption, mental health, family relationships/obligations.

There were a ton of terrifying parts and very gross, disturbing descriptions that really added to the horror factor. I loved learning about hungry ghosts and the descriptions of them will also give me nightmares.

I found the other parts about covid (timing handwashing, descriptions of cleaning bags & items after grocery shopping) very mundane and not relevant. This being set during the pandemic is important to the crime spree, but some of those parts describing covid and the "before times" were slow.

This is a horrifyingly beautiful book about the 2020 covid pandemic and the disgusting treatment of the Chinese and Asian communities.

This book is raw and real and brought me right back to those beginning times of the pandemic. Additionally there is an element of Asian culture and how they respect, send off, and remember the dead.

Absolutely brilliant.

I found this to be a gripping story brought to life by the stellar narration. Natalie Naudus captured the unique characters and thoughts perfectly. Once I started listening, it was hard to put it down. This was because of both the compelling flow of the story and the incredible narration. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was emotional, hard hitting, and gave exactly the commentary it needed to. I also found the depiction of OCD to be very realistic and fair.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker is a haunting, brilliant horror novel that was also incredibly beautiful. It isn’t just a horror story—it’s a deeply moving exploration of trauma, grief, and the horrific violence faced by East Asians, all set against the backdrop of NYC at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Cora Zeng is an incredibly complex character. Her trauma, the sudden and violent murder of her sister Delilah while she was standing next to her, is like a ghost hanging over every scene. But what sets Cora apart from many with similar trauma is her ability to function in the midst of these horrors, pushing aside her emotions and focusing on the macabre task of cleaning up crime scenes. The way Cora navigates through this trauma while doing what has to be done could be a book in itself, but Baker weaves in an unnerving supernatural layer, as well as some truly creepy cultural folklore. As Cora and her clean-up crew begin noticing the drastic increase in crime scenes involving violently murdered Asian women, Cora starts to get the inkling that something is very wrong in her own life. Things are going missing from her apartment and she can never quite get rid of the feeling of being watched...

The atmosphere that Baker has created in this book is suffocating and completely enthralling. Her writing is sharp, darkly humorous, and incredibly beautiful. She also highlights an important issue: the trauma East Asians experienced during the pandemic (and always). The way Cora struggles with the concept of reality, especially as the supernatural begins to bleed into her already fractured world, is both heartbreaking and terrifying.

The narrator was phenomenal as well. She was perfect throughout this thought-provoking and unsettling book. Kylie Lee Baker is an author to watch, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

My god.
If you can handle Covid pandemic books.
This one.
Absolutely incredibly written.
Horrifying, gorey, nauseating an absolute must.

This was such a great blend of paranormal to actual horrific events of the pandemic that made for such an interesting book.

Narration by Natalie Naudus so obviously incredible.

Thanks to netgalley and harlequin for an eARC and alc

Wow! This was an amazing horrifyingly suspenseful book. I don’t think that I’ll ever forget this one. This is the first book I’ve read of this author and I will continue to read anything they put out! JUST WOW.

Also it is a bit more gory than I thought so keep that in mind!

Cora Zeng’s sister, Delilah, suffers a horrific death after being pushed in front of an oncoming NYC train. The murderer says “Bat Eater,” before disappearing.

Nothing could be worse than witnessing that. So, it would seem. For Cora, it is certainly not cleaning up the bloody scattered human remains of grotesque murders in Chinatown. Rather, what frightens Cora more is: the germs and viruses lurking everywhere and unexplained bite marks on her coffee table.

Cora ignores her aunt’s advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of Hell open and hungry ghosts are let loose. That the recent clean ups are bodies of East Asian women and that hungry ghosts who will not be ignored haunt her. Since Delilah died, Cora isn’t really sure what is real and what is in her head.


This horror novel is a perfect response to Asians’ ongoing experiences of racism that got exponentially worse with COVID. It is one of my top five favorite horror reads.

I was lucky enough to get both the E ARC and the audio. I absolutely loved the digital copy but the audio book add an entire layer of perfection, the combination of writing and audio production come together in the most fantastic way. I will be recommending both to the ends of time.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it lived up to all the hype and more. Haunting in all the best ways.

Natalie Naudus is my all time favorite narrator and continues to be after this performance.

This book is not for the faint of heart. The protagonist's circumstances alone are enough to be a horror story; Cora is a crime scene cleaner with OCD (presumably) who is living in New York City in the height of the Covid pandemic. It kicks off with a decapitation in the first chapter and doesn't let up -- Baker weaves disgusting imagery throughout the story, from one character recounting a memory of silverfish crawling inside their ear to the evocative crime scene descriptions, including someone's skull "popping open like a can of biscuits." Alongside the blood and gore, however, is a sweet (in a way) story about learning to live with, and love, the ghosts that haunt us and that we carry with us forever. The author's note at the end is an emotional reminder of how it felt to live through 2020, and worth the read.

Horror fans are sure to enjoy this one. I challenge anyone to read the whole book without coming across at least one scene that totally creeps them out (disembowelment! bats! ghosts! cannibalism! viruses! body fluids!). I also appreciated the social commentary that the book provided, as Cora saw her 'Asianness' suddenly become her most salient feature and identity in the public eye at that time, and the basis of the hate crimes that are a major plot point throughout the book. Actually, the best part of the book is the nuance of the relationships Cora has with her sister, Delilah, and her aunts; the humanity of these characters in their scenes together serve as a nice palate cleanser from the brutality of the others.

Immediately after reading, I thought I would give this book 4 stars, but after letting it simmer for awhile, I think it's a 5. The descriptiveness of the writing, the relevance of the setting, and the imaginativeness of the "characters" that Cora befriends -- and, of course, the cover is beautiful. After reading, I was interested to see what else Baker had written, and was surprised to see that she seems to be a fantasy author who has just broken into the horror genre with this one. I hope she stays. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for making this ARC available to me.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Cora Zeng witnesses the tragedy of her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a subway train. The murderer flees the scene shouting "bat eater," and Cora is left reeling from both her sister's death and the other brutal murder scenes she cleans up as a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown, unsure of what's real and what's in her mind as hungry ghosts follow her.

Kylie Lee Baker does it again! While I've always appreciated the elements of horror included in her fantasy novels, BAT EATER is a reversal of her past reads, with horror being at the forefront and fantasy / the paranormal used as support. I am blown away by the way Kylie makes such impactful statements about the treatment of East Asians during the Covid-19 pandemic and the treatment of Asian women by (mostly white) men in general. It takes so much talent to make the trauma, brutality of killings, mystery or who did it, the pandemic, family dynamics, friendships, and hungry ghosts all come together cohesively under the paranormal horror umbrella. It's a work of genius. Narrated by Natalie Naudus, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the audiobook and will also probably devour it in a day like I did.

After the blurb, I think I was expecting a dark gory funny horror, and it wasn’t quite that. It’s more of a dark, looming, haunting thriller. Yes there are supernatural elements but the scaring comes more from the society that we (used to?) still live in. I loved how the history and explanation of Chinese customs
were shared between Cora, her aunt and her friends, and in the same vein the her cult mom could have done with some more explanation. I found that the supporting characters had such crazy trauma that was mentioned but not explained as throughly as other details.
The novel does an excellent job of conveying Cora’s fear and anxiety during Covid as a Chinese woman living in a major American city. However, I still think it’s a bit too early for me to have fiction books set during the COVID Pandemic. Maybe that was the reason for the author to have this unsettled time with a deeply troubled unsettled Asian woman to heighten the anxiety, but the real life setting still feels too fresh for me to have as the backdrop on a story.

4.5 ⭐, rounded up because the writing style + narrator were so good that I was grossly entranced during the gory body horror scenes, which I usually do not like.

I love a good, creepy haunting and horror with social commentary. My husband was worried about me when he saw the shocked, disgusted, and horrified faces I was making while listening to this, if that's a sign of horror quality for anyone. I loved how creepy the ghosts were, the commentary on the Asian experience in the US during the COVID pandemic, the relatability of being an American kid who is disconnected from and stumbling through their cultural heritage, the character development that made me love Cora's friends, and Cora's own growth as a character. I usually stay away from any stories about/inspired by COVID, but I came for the cool book cover and stayed for the ghosts.

Natalie Naudus is an amazing narrator as ever, and I was thrilled to find out that she read for this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ALC.

I couldn't get into this book. I tried but it was pretty slow at the start. Reading other reviews said to give it more time but i just couldn't get into it.

Bat eater, and other names for Cora Zeng, was wonderful. It started out out a little slow but it wasn't long before it grab hold of my attention and I was doing a little extra cleaning to listen more. The narrator was perfect for this story, her voice held a bit of melancholy that highlighted the themes in the story. A different perspective to the CoVID epidemic than I personally experienced, or have read/watched about. It really forced me to think and feel about the characters in the story, and the real people that lived and are living through so much hatred and bigotry for things they hand nothing to do with.