Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

This was fantastic. Cora is a crime scene cleaner whose sister dies in a tragic not-so accident. Drowning in grief and survivor's guilt, Cora is torn between dual identities and struggles to find the means to feed her sister's ravenous spirit who haunts her every step.

Baker uses gore and shadows to emphasise the very real horror of the bigotry that accompanied the height of covid all told via an unsettling combo deal of serial killer thriller meets chilling ghost haunt.

I am a pretty avid horror fan but there were moments while reading this late at night that I had to set the book down and read something light just to balance it out. It was visceral, heart-rending and I suspect, the only covid novel I will ever love.

If you're only going to read one horror novel this year, make it this one.