Jackal – Book Review

A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she’s not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .

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 and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing—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 school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart missing. 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

The pitch of the story sounded really great that I instantly wanted to try this book out! Liz Rocher returns back to small town Johnstown, Pennsylvania very reluctantly and she was one of the Black girls. She came back to the town to attend her friend’s wedding. But when her friend Mel’s child, Caroline goes missing on that day, and as Caroline is a biracial child, then things get worse. The police tried to blame and pin point evidence against Liz but black girls have been brutally murdered in that small town since 1985…

I have to say, the story started out really great. It was intriguing, mind gripping and engaging and I was literally on the edge of the seat. Is there a serial killer that no one knows about? A serial killer since 1985 that targeted on black girls? I was literally engrossed into the story, wanting to find out what is going to happen next. There were snippets on the girls that were murdered, so as a reader you can get an insight of what their life was like hours before they were murdered. I do like the small poems and myth that is written in the book.

And…but when it came to the end…I was disappointed. I know it was a horror book, but did not really expect that kind of ending. I really thought…ending was lame which hugely disappointed me and lowered a rating on the book.

Nonetheless, this is the author’s debut book and cannot wait tor read more books from this author!