Night's Edge

April 24, 2023
Vampires are given a brutal yet refreshing update in this addictive outing from Kerin (The Phantom Forest) that’s equal parts horror thriller and bildungsroman. The narration jumps between past and present: in 2010, fifth grader Mia’s mother, Izzy, catches a vampiric condition from her emotionally manipulative boyfriend, Devon. Forced into a caregiving role, Mia learns the ins and outs of her mother’s condition and that keeping it quiet means keeping others at arm’s length. In the present, 20-something Mia dreams of escaping their codependent dynamic and beginning a relationship with a beautiful barista named Jade—until Devon reappears and threatens to destroy the fragile life Mia’s spent more than a decade building. Kerin’s prose is razor-sharp, and the fraught mother-daughter relationship at the heart of the novel is devastatingly rendered. It’s a fast-paced story with rich, complex characters, making the cliffhanger ending especially frustrating—but only because readers will be desperate to see how all the blood comes out in the wash. Vampire fans looking for a fresh take on the monsters should snap this up.

April 15, 2023
In 2023, the world is learning how to manage after the Saratov-syndrome global pandemic of 2010, which turned the infected into vampires. Mia was 10 when her mom, Izzy, became a "Sara," and instead of turning herself in, Izzy adapted by feeding off of Mia and working only after dark. Now 23, Mia is stuck protecting her mom's dangerous secret, never allowed to get close to anyone, faced with no future, always returning home at sundown to provide her mother's meal until the day she meets Jade and starts to question everything. The book is told in Mia's conversational and honest narration from alternating time lines in 2010 and 2023; readers fall right into the novel as the details of the world and Mia and Izzy's life are effortlessly relayed through the compelling story, simultaneously hammering home the anxiety and hopelessness of this speculative world alongside the very real horrors of addiction and toxic family relationships. A morally gray and timely story that is bursting with Sookie Stackhouse vibes but will also appeal to fans of Cartriona Ward and Zoje Stage.

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Starred review from May 1, 2023

For years, it's been just Mia and her mother Izzy, whose disease means avoiding both sunlight and regular food. Adult Mia still lives with her mother and even lets Izzy feed from her. Mia still loves her mother, but she starts to want more out of life. Mia also knows what her mother could do if she were angry or hungry. Like many modern takes on vampires, Kerin's novel depicts vampirism as a medical disease, and the dynamic between Izzy and Mia powers the book's tension and tenderness. The novel cleverly jumps back and forth between Izzy first becoming infected while Mia is a child and the modern day, where an adult Mia must keep her mother's condition hidden from those who'd lock her away. Izzy's moments of love for her daughter are beautifully juxtaposed with behavior that terrifies Mia, particularly as both mother and daughter start keeping secrets from one another. Devising an emotional trap forged with equal parts love and fear, Kerin finely plays with readers' expectations. VERDICT This vampire story from Kerin (The Phantom Forest) will sink its teeth into readers' hearts.--James Gardner

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