Jackal: A Novel
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Description
“I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half in one night.”—BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary . . . A terrifying tale of fears and hatreds generated by racism and class inequality.”—Associated Press
EDGAR® AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER® AWARD FINALIST • SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE • PHENOMENAL BOOK CLUB PICK
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Esquire, Vulture, PopSugar, Paste, Publishers Weekly • ONE OF COSMOPOLITAN’S BEST HORROR NOVELS OF ALL TIME
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.
It’s your turn.
With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Book Information
Posts
The Woods Remember What the Town Forgets
"Jackal" is a haunting blend of social commentary and supernatural dread that lingers long after the final page. When Liz Rocher returns to her predominantly white hometown for a wedding, the disappearance of a young Black girl unearths a predatory history hidden within the Appalachian woods. The author masterfully uses horror as a lens to examine systemic neglect, creating an atmosphere thick with tension and racial trauma. It is a chilling reminder that sometimes the real monsters aren't just in the shadows, but in the silence of a community.
Last book of the year 2025
This was the last book I read in 2025 and this was actually a book that I tried reading a couple years ago but never really did that because it wasn’t feeling like a good book that was meant for me Still, I had some issues with this book and a hard time wanting to read this one so I was kind of struggling and forcing myself to go through this because I tried reading it years ago and never really completed it and I didn’t want to put it down again without actually completing at this time In this story with follow a black woman and she’s having issues with the people in her hometown because the people there don’t really like black people nevertheless she actually left that town years ago and only came back because her friend was getting married, and that’s why she came back because the wedding was happening during the weekend in her hometown. But then there’s a story about girls going missing in the nearby forest and our main character actually witnessed such a missing person’s case that ended up with finding the body of the missing girl back when she was still a teenager that’s why she is highly afraid of the forest and not really a fan of having to go back to the hometown where something evil like that has been happening a couple times. And then during the wedding the daughter of the bride goes missing in the same woods and it looks like everything that happened years ago is actually happening again and suddenly our main character is the main suspect in this case having to deal with a corrupt police and really weird things going on around her
Description
“I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half in one night.”—BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary . . . A terrifying tale of fears and hatreds generated by racism and class inequality.”—Associated Press
EDGAR® AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER® AWARD FINALIST • SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE • PHENOMENAL BOOK CLUB PICK
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Esquire, Vulture, PopSugar, Paste, Publishers Weekly • ONE OF COSMOPOLITAN’S BEST HORROR NOVELS OF ALL TIME
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.
It’s your turn.
With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Book Information
Posts
The Woods Remember What the Town Forgets
"Jackal" is a haunting blend of social commentary and supernatural dread that lingers long after the final page. When Liz Rocher returns to her predominantly white hometown for a wedding, the disappearance of a young Black girl unearths a predatory history hidden within the Appalachian woods. The author masterfully uses horror as a lens to examine systemic neglect, creating an atmosphere thick with tension and racial trauma. It is a chilling reminder that sometimes the real monsters aren't just in the shadows, but in the silence of a community.
Last book of the year 2025
This was the last book I read in 2025 and this was actually a book that I tried reading a couple years ago but never really did that because it wasn’t feeling like a good book that was meant for me Still, I had some issues with this book and a hard time wanting to read this one so I was kind of struggling and forcing myself to go through this because I tried reading it years ago and never really completed it and I didn’t want to put it down again without actually completing at this time In this story with follow a black woman and she’s having issues with the people in her hometown because the people there don’t really like black people nevertheless she actually left that town years ago and only came back because her friend was getting married, and that’s why she came back because the wedding was happening during the weekend in her hometown. But then there’s a story about girls going missing in the nearby forest and our main character actually witnessed such a missing person’s case that ended up with finding the body of the missing girl back when she was still a teenager that’s why she is highly afraid of the forest and not really a fan of having to go back to the hometown where something evil like that has been happening a couple times. And then during the wedding the daughter of the bride goes missing in the same woods and it looks like everything that happened years ago is actually happening again and suddenly our main character is the main suspect in this case having to deal with a corrupt police and really weird things going on around her