January 1, 2025
As people vanish in the mountains surrounding her remote Arkansas town, a teen with the ability to locate the dead tries to find the killer. Seventeen-year-old Dove Warner can hear the song of the dead. It resonates through her body, a bone-deep thrum that propels her towards a victim's burial place. This grim talent is useful in Dove's hometown, Lucifer's Creek, where the sheriff has relied on her in recent years to find the remains of people who have died under mysterious circumstances while hiking the Aux-Arc Trail. Oddly enough, the rising body count hardly disturbs the locals--except, that is, for Dove's best friend, Lowan Wilder, who believes he's being haunted by the restless spirits of the murdered hikers. Dove is, ironically, very skeptical about the paranormal, but it's clear to her that Lo's fear is genuine, as is his insistence that putting an end to the killings will appease the spirits. Folk magic, a family curse, and the specter of an ominous regional cryptid combine with vivid descriptions of the Ozark Mountains setting to give this story a distinct sense of the Southern gothic. Like the sulfurous stream that gives Lucifer's Creek its name, the central mystery twists and turns in unexpected ways, building up to a chilling reveal in the final act that skirts the edge of horror. Main characters read white. Gripping and intensely atmospheric.(Paranormal thriller. 14-18)
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Starred review from December 9, 2024
Sain (One Last Breath) combines supernatural terror with sweltering Ozark atmosphere in this hauntingly ambitious paranormal romance. Seventeen-year-old Dovie is part of a long line of women in Lucifer Creek, Ark., who are able to hear the bones of the deceased sing after burial, though she spends most of her time annoyed by the constant demands of
the dead. When a staggering number of out-of-towners vanish during a hike on the Aux Arc trail, authorities increasingly rely on Dovie’s abilities to help unearth their whereabouts and give closure to the victims’ families. Then Dovie’s lifelong best friend Lo returns to town. Still plagued by the spirits whose haunting drove him from Lucifer Creek in the first place, Lo, along with Dovie, begins to unravel the mystery behind the disappearances—one that
connects not only to Dovie’s past but to the labyrinthine history of the town itself. Sain’s lyrical prose expertly makes the largely white characters of Lucifer Creek—and their punchy exchanges—jump off the page, while vividly descriptive text evokes an ethereal yet grounded setting. Plot points offer shocking twists that feel appropriately earned in a rural Southern gothic horror novel that will stay with readers well beyond the last page. Ages 14–up.
February 1, 2025
Grades 9-12 Since her mother's long-ago disappearance, Dove has lived with her father in the Arkansas hills of the ancient Ozark mountain range, where Dove's strange gift of hearing the singing of the bones of murder victims is starting to come in handy far too often. Despite her strange ability and the increase in bodies, Dove is adamant that the shadowy figures her friend Lowan sees cannot be real, and neither can the mysterious and legendary Ozark Howler. But Lo insists he's seeing the souls of the hikers who have died along the treacherous Aux-Arc Trail, and only Dove can help him. Unable to resist Lo, Dove is drawn into a web of deceit that may get closer to home than she could ever expect. Authentic Arkansan cultural details surround fully believable characters who connect deeply to their earthly surroundings and one another. In the darkness of the thorny woods, reality gets a little porous, and Sain's deep reverence for rurality and nature shines through in a tale brimming with grandmotherly wisdom, fated romance, and a twisted, gripping mystery.
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March 1, 2025
Gr 8 Up-Dovie Clover, 17, can find the bones and bodies of people who have gone missing on the Aux-Arc Trail in her small town of Lucifer's Creek in the Arkansas Ozarks. She can hear the bones of the dead sing, and they've been calling out to her, even though Dovie does not believe in magic. Her best friend Lowan does believe, and he sees the ghosts of people who have been killed on the trail. He thinks the ghosts want him to help end the killings. Together, the friends try to find whatever is killing the hikers and uncover secrets within their families and the town. Filled with magic, beauty, and darkness, this novel will keep readers on their toes, eager to see what happens next. The story is brimming with the warm, lazy days of a small town while also managing to be fast-paced and thrilling. It captures the small-town feel-and its scandals. It also contains lovely, lyrical lines that really stand out. VERDICT This is a remarkable story with a fresh take on supernatural mysteries; it's a good choice for readers who enjoy the mystical and paranormal with just a hint of romance.-Autumn West
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