An absolutely fantastic historical horror novel! I totally fell in love with Clark’s Cairo series and was thrilled to discover he had a new novella coming out this year. Ring Shout is a historical set horror novel about Black Americans hunting down monsters that spur on the hatred of White supremacists in the South.

Sound fun? It is, but it’s also more than that. A deep look into America’s historical racism and treatment of Black people, Ring Shout gives the reader a lot to think about in terms of historical and personal traumas, as well as a providing number of jumping off points for further research into the actual history behind the story.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. The three main characters are absolutely stunning — three monster hunting, weapon wielding women who face both supernatural and human enemies every day. I especially adored the foul mouthed Sadie, who was a wonderful addition to the story. These three women have such different backgrounds, but are tied together by their shared traumatic pasts.

The only thing that didn’t quite work for me was — being vague as possible to avoid spoilers — the revelation of the Big Bad. Like with most horror stories, I find that the actual reality of the villain is much less frightening than their actions while cloaked in darkness. While there was a lot that I enjoyed about the ending, that was one thing that stuck with me as not quite clicking. It certainly wasn’t enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story though.

4.5 out of 5 stars