Michael B. (Ichabod) reviewed on 12/14/2024 + 147 more book reviews

We are seeing some weird scenes on the reservation. A man with a promising career in newscasting inexplicably commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a car at night. An older woman, headed to sing at a wake, has presumably drowned herself in the river. Graves are being desecrated in the cemetery. At their vigils, corpses are sitting up to speak. Things are out of balance and the chilling suspicion is that the ancient Takoda Vampire is at hand.

Noemi Broussard is devastated. She cannot accept that her boyfriend would kill himself. She finds some solace in that her uncle Louie has just returned to the reservation after a ten-year absence. Louie is struck by the similarities he sees now and the circumstances that set him off into exile when he was young. In the 1980's he shouldered the responsibility of caring for an alcoholic mother and raising young Noemi, at the same time some of the same supernatural occurrences were striking. Could he be the lightning rod drawing evil back to the reservation?

In his Acknowledgments, author Nick Medina recognizes the two "horrific and heartbreaking themes that run through this book--suicide and alcoholism." These are triggers found in the book and in reality. Given the abject poverty and the generational trauma suffered, it is not hard to grasp that a catharsis found in the telling of horror finds a place in Native American literature.

Told in two timelines, the pacing is slow at first, but quickly draws you in. The sense of eeriness is maintained throughout, and the inclusion of the folklore adds to the atmosphere. Recommended for an ominous ride.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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