Bat Eater

Booklist has described 'Bat Eater' as an essential read from an emerging voice in the horror genre. Paul Tremblay highlights its goriness, while Alice Slater remarks on its ability to grip you completely, likening it to a bat's swift dive. Eric LaRocca considers it one of the most thrilling and distinctive books he's encountered in years. The story centers on Cora Zeng, who works as a crime scene cleaner. Cleaning up after violent deaths doesn't faze her, as she has already endured her own nightmare: witnessing her sister's murder when she was pushed in front of a train. The murderer was never captured, and Cora remains tormented by his chilling last words: "bat eater."Nowadays, Cora is unreachable. Not her aunt, who insists on her involvement in the Hungry Ghost Festival, nor her eccentric colleagues, and certainly not the ominous shadow lurking near her door. It seems impossible for it to be anything more than a figment of her imagination—or is it? When a string of unexplained murders occurs in Chinatown, Cora becomes convinced there's a threat against East Asian women—and possibly against her. She soon comes to understand that hungry ghosts cannot simply be overlooked.