The night birds

Ruby Cahill and Charlie Book broke up almost two years ago, but during a hurricane, Ruby unexpectedly appears, a woman and baby in tow, at the Galveston dock where Charlie is about to take shelter on the sunken ship where he commands a team studying the mangrove forest that has taken root there. Ruby and the woman, who is Ruby's estranged (and now dead) sister's partner, are on the run from an ancient coven of witches, who will stop at nothing to get the baby. The Night Birds is drenched with unease from the opening pages, and Golden (Road of Bones, 2022) takes readers on a bleak but captivating ride, told over one harrowing night and shifting points of view to allow the characters to develop organically without ever sacrificing the quick pace. Heartbreakingly beautiful, filled with action, evil, shape-shifting witches, superior world building, and visceral terror, this is a tale where every detail matters, and readers' emotions will be put through the wringer--but not left without hope. A strong choice for horror or thriller readers, this story will ring the most true in the space where fans of Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex (2016) overlap with Jenny Kiefer's This Wretched Valley (2024).

Golden (The House of Last Resort) showcases his gift for eerie scene setting in this outstanding horror novel with an unusual location: the Christabel, a partially sunken freighter off the Texas coast that's overrun with vegetation. The mangrove trees that make up this "floating forest" have created a unique ecosystem, which is being studied by Charlie Book, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and three colleagues. Despite an imminent storm headed for Galveston, Charlie still intends to sleep on the Christabel, which he's made his home for the duration of the study. That plan's disrupted by a surprise encounter with his ex-girlfriend, Ruby Cahill, who seeks refuge aboard the vessel. Ruby's on the run from the people who'd murdered her sister, Bella, and desperate for a haven for herself, Bella's girlfriend, Mae, and Bella's infant son, Aiden. Despite Ruby's reluctance to provide details, Charlie agrees to take them in--only to find himself also under threat from something possibly supernatural that pursues them and which has caused birds in the area to act strangely and aggressively. Golden spins this setup into a tense, atmospheric thriller. John Connolly fans will be riveted. (May)