Title: Jackal
Author: Erin E. Adams
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Pages: 352
Genre: Horror / Thriller
⭐ Overall: 5/5
🔪 Intensity: 5/5
💔 Emotional Impact: 5/5
SJR Quick Take
I had absolutely no idea how much this book was going to touch a nerve. I think I just saw a recommendation for Jackal, picked it up blindly, and it did not disappoint. I was biting my nails at every twist, and my heart hurt for these young girls and their mothers. Growing up in a small country town myself, I got it. There were parts of this story that hit home for me in ways I wasn't expecting.
Erin E. Adams did an amazing job with this book.
What Is Jackal About?
Liz is from a small town in Pennsylvania called Johnstown, and she does not want to go back. But her best friend since grade school, Mel, is getting married, so Liz is heading home for the wedding. Her plan is pretty simple: be there for her best friend, help things go smoothly, survive the trip home, and leave. But as soon as Liz gets back to Johnstown, she's already ready to run for the hills.
Liz Comes Home
Liz lives in New York City now, and coming back to Johnstown means dealing with people, memories, and parts of her past that she has tried to leave behind.
Almost immediately after getting into town, she's met by a seemingly homeless Black woman trying to give her something. Liz eventually takes it just to get the woman to back off.
Already, we can feel the tension between the life Liz has built for herself in New York and being back around these small-town country folks.
Then we meet Liz's mother, a successful Black doctor who mostly sticks to herself but, like most mothers, wants to know what's going on with her daughter. Why is the daughter who was engaged suddenly back home alone and single? And what happened to all that long hair?
We get some ideas about what might have happened from inside Liz's head, but she doesn't want to tell her mother everything. We also learn that Liz had a traumatic experience involving the woods when she was a teenager and has tried to stay out of them ever since. And apparently, she's not the only Black child who learned to stay away from those woods.
The Wedding
Now we get to the reason Liz came home in the first place. Liz already knows drama is going to ensue because Mel is white and marrying a Black man, Garrett, and her family is 100% not okay with it. Mel already made what her family considers a huge mistake by getting pregnant by Garrett, and now they have a daughter named Caroline.
Liz is really there to be a shoulder for her best friend and help things go smoothly. Just as she expected, Mel's family is hoping she'll leave Garrett at the altar. Liz tries to smooth things over, and we quickly see the racism within Mel's family, even though they seem to tolerate Liz.
The wedding also brings Liz face-to-face with people she remembers from school, including an old crush, Chris, and a not-so-nice girl named Lauren. So we're meeting everyone, getting a feel for this town, and seeing exactly why Liz didn't want to come home in the first place.
Then the kids start playing a game near the woods. Mel hasn't instilled the same fear of those woods into Caroline that Liz grew up with. Liz is keeping an eye on the kids but walks away for a minute to get a drink. And that's when the horror ramps up to level ten. Caroline is missing.
Liz finds a piece of her bloody flower-girl dress. She tries to go into the woods after her but has no luck. Now she has to go back and tell everyone at the wedding that Caroline is gone.
The Girls in the Woods
And somehow, it only gets worse from there. We start learning about the riddles and rhymes Black families have told their children about the woods. We begin seeing and reading about the experiences of other young Black girls in this town and their own moments in those woods.
Slowly, we start getting glimpses of the dark secrets hiding underneath Johnstown. Liz knows Caroline is in real danger, even if Mel and her family don't want to believe it. And Liz feels guilty. She was supposed to be watching her goddaughter, and now she's willing to do everything in her power to bring Caroline home—or die trying.
Digging Into Johnstown
As Liz starts digging, she begins awakening a deep, dark secret within this town that is riddled with hate, racism, and ignorance. And now we're constantly trying to figure out: Who is involved? Who could be helping? Who can Liz trust?
And most importantly: Can she find Caroline in time before the killer—or killers—comes for her and her family?
I was biting my nails at every twist.
The Horror That Hit Home
My heart hurt for these young girls and their mothers. Growing up in a small country town myself, I get it.
There are things people know but don't talk about. There are divides within communities, and there are people who are tolerated without ever really being accepted. And even now, in 2026, we're still having conversations about missing Black girls and the amount of attention their cases receive compared with missing white girls.
So this book touched a nerve I wasn't expecting when I blindly picked it up. The horror wasn't just about what might be happening in those woods. For me, there was another layer to the horror because I could connect parts of this fictional story to conversations we're still having in real life. It even had me thinking about things happening in the media right now. I'm saving more of those thoughts for Cover to Cover because once the spoilers are allowed... I have things to say about this book.
Final Verdict
So good.
I went into Jackal basically blind, and it did not disappoint. I was constantly trying to figure out who was involved, who Liz could trust, and whether she was going to find Caroline in time. It had me on the edge of my seat, but it also made my heart ache and made me think.
Erin E. Adams did an amazing job with this book.
⭐ Overall: 5/5
🔪 Intensity: 5/5
💔 Emotional Impact: 5/5
Would I Recommend?
Absolutely.
Especially if you like horror and thrillers with mystery, small-town secrets, racial tension, missing-person investigations, and a story that gives you something deeper to think about underneath the horror.
Would I Read Again?
Absolutely.
Ready for the spoilers?
In my Jackal Cover to Cover, we're getting into what was really happening, the town's secrets, the girls, the woods, who was involved, and everything I couldn't say here.
Because I have a lot more to say.
Until the next chapter,
Happy Reading,
S. J. Robinson
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