A haunting, fearsome story of a father searching for his missing daughter and finding darkness—both human and not—at every turn, from the author of the “exciting, suspenseful, horrifying” (Stephen King) Fever House

Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.

But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies, but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.

And though none of them dare say the word “witch,” at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, black-eyed, clawed, and vengeful, looming ever closer . . .

Last year I read Coffin Moon, my first Keith Rosson book, and I absolutely devoured it. I love anything witch related, so I was thrilled to dive into this one. It turned out to be completely different from what I expected, which made it even better.

Eli Lamp hasn’t had the best life. Things were great until his wife died giving birth and he went from being a detective to being an addict and that got worse after his daughter disappeared and he lost his job. Ten years later, he’s clean but still grieving his missing daughter, and stuck working as an enforcer for a local drug gang to pay off what he owes them. He lives in a run-down trailer at the edge of the woods and keeps Hannah’s bedroom exactly the way she left it. Then the gang boss’s son turns up brutally murdered in a way that doesn’t make sense, and Eli gets an offer. Find the killer and his debt is wiped clean. The hunt pulls him toward Avery, Hannah’s best friend and the last person who saw her before she vanished. Together they chase answers that stretch back decades and keep bending the rules of what’s possible. Nobody will say the word witch out loud, but something with black eyes and claws is out in those woods, and it’s getting closer.

I love a questionable character and an unreliable narrator, and this book is packed with them. Eli’s life fell apart when his wife died giving birth, and it only got worse after Hannah went missing. As he keeps looking for her, a strange entity seems to be going after bad men who do bad things. Is she hunting the same people Eli is? And is he safe from her, or will he end up dead too? That question kept me turning pages.

This one is dark, gritty, and eerie, just like Coffin Moon. Rosson pulls no punches, and nobody is safe. Coffin Moon gave us a fresh take on vampires, and this one does the same for witches, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I devoured this book. If you like your horror gritty and unpredictable with a side of crime noir, pick this one up.

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