“With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.

Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.

Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on ebook from Amazon First Reads.

Thoughts: This was another intriguing paranormal horror book by Kingfisher. I enjoyed following Selena as she tries to build a new life for herself in the small quirky town of Quartz Creek. I also enjoyed the inclusion of desert gods into the mix.

Selena is finally leaving her emotionally abusive boyfriend for good. She took her dog and the rest of her money and bought a train ticket to Quartz Creek to visit her aunt. She just wants to stay with her aunt until she can get a job and get back on her feet. However, her aunt is dead, but her aunt’s house needs a new owner. Quart Creek is incredibly welcoming, and Selena’s new neighbor Grandma Billy is wonderful too. Then things start to get a bit weird in the house. Selena is being stalked by a roadrunner that leaves odd gifts of dead rattlesnakes on her doorstep, and Selena is having the oddest dreams.

This was a very well done paranormal horror sort of book. I loved Selena as a character and really enjoyed all of the characters in Quartz Creek. This is a book where no one is really all that evil, except the gods of the desert.

I also really enjoyed Quartz Creek as a town. The town hosts a quirky group of characters that help the town thrive through many different ways and income sources. I am not a desert person; I prefer lush green forests, but I almost found myself wanting to live there. The descriptions of the landscape and fauna really made it come alive.

I would call this horror light; it leans more into the paranormal aspects of gods than any actual scariness. I never really found it that creepy. I also think one of the reasons this wasn’t a five star read for me was that I found the mystery behind the strange goings-on a bit too predictable.

The book is fun to read and a bit tongue in cheek in tone at times. However, it also tackles some serious issues. Selena is fleeing a relationship where her boyfriend made her feel small and she began to constantly question herself. Was she being beaten or physically harmed? No, but this book goes into the lasting harm that can be done emotionally as well. I also liked that it looked at meshing local gods/beliefs with more standard religious systems. The town priest is Christian, but who is he to say other gods don’t exist? It’s an excellent example of religions and beliefs co-existing and everyone being cool with it.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. This is a fun paranormal horror read about a woman trying to get life back together. She stumbles into a town of quirky folks and desert gods in her quest to do so. I loved the town and the characters and really enjoyed the way local gods were blended into the story. The only thing that really fell a bit short for me here was that the mysterious goings on were a bit too predictable. If you are a Kingfisher fan, I would definitely give this a read. If you think a desert town full of odd gods and people sounds intriguing I would recommend it as well.

Review – Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher (4/5 stars)

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