Clever Creatures of the Night
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
"Eerie, atmospheric, and simmering with dread. Not to be missed."—Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls
"A mystery that demands to be read in one setting."—Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders
In this gripping literary horror, Case’s best friend goes missing, forcing her into a bizarre, cultlike—and possibly murderous—world, perfect for fans of The Honeys and Mexican Gothic.
Something bad happened here.
When Case arrives at a run-down, ivy-covered house tucked deep in the West Texas woods, an ashy haze lingers in the air and the sky is tissue-paper pink. Her best friend Drea has been living here with a few classmates Case has never met, and Drea asked her to visit in a letter dated two weeks ago. But now Drea is nowhere to be found.
Drea’s roommates can’t—or won’t—answer questions, leaving Case to search alone. She finds bits of Drea’s journal hidden in the tiles of the bathroom wall, in a beat-up cooler by the muddy river, wedged into the frame of her closet door. As Case pieces together Drea’s life in this strange house, the roommates’ behavior puts her increasingly on edge—and she’s not the only one. The animals nearby are lashing out, attacking each other, threatening the humans.
Something bad happened in this house. Something that must be connected to Drea’s disappearance. And if she gets too close to the truth, Case just might be next.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A determined teen dealing with PTSD and drug dependency searches the woods of rural Texas for her missing best friend in this ticking-clock thriller from Mabry (Tigers Not Daughters). Latinx high school graduate Case Lopez has been recovering from a traumatic house fire in which she nearly died, which has kept her away from her best friend, Andrea Soto, also Latinx. When she finally gets to visit Drea's house, where she lives with fellow teens at the edge of a sinister forest, Drea is nowhere to be found. Worse, Drea's roommates refuse to answer questions concerning her whereabouts, prompting suspicion from Case, who's certain that they're hiding something. With no cell service and feeling isolated, Case works to unravel the mystery of Drea's disappearance before she winds up missing as well. A stagnant plot and lackluster character development driven by terse conversation and meandering action stymie the anticipatory urgency of the 24-hour premise. Still, the evocative setting—complete with eerie woods, a claustrophobic mountain landscape, and the sudden appearance of aggressive animals—ups the tension of this jam-packed read, which somewhat clumsily juggles lightheartedness and disturbing happenings and stars a heroine worth rooting for. Ages 14–up.
