When Devils Sing

April 1, 2025
Four teens attempt to outsmart both the devil and his human servants in this sinister Southern gothic horror novel by debut author Kaur. In the small town of Carrion, Georgia, when the cicadas emerge every 13 years, people vanish--townsfolk and tourists alike. Rumors say that the town's founder made a deal with the devil to ensure prosperity, but the devil demanded a sacrifice in return. Now the wealthy enjoy the spoils of life in the gated community of Lake Clearwater, while most inhabitants of Carrion struggle. This year Dawson Sumter, a local boy from the wrong side of the tracks, has gone missing, leaving behind only a mess of blood and a key ring. Drawn together by a confluence of circumstances, musician and motel worker Neera Singh, Harvard-bound podcaster Isaiah Johnson, long-suffering yet devoted eldest daughter Sam Calhoun, and descendant of Carrion's founder Reid Langley team up to investigate Dawson's disappearance. What they find is an ominous decades-old secret, exposing the town's systemic inequalities and throwing all of them in harm's way. Atmospheric and tense, this detail-rich slow-burn horror novel has death and destruction embedded throughout. The humid Georgia summer setting provides an intense backdrop, acting as a character in and of itself. The four protagonists are well-developed, seriously flawed yet utterly understandable. Most characters are coded white. Neera's Punjabi family is from the U.K., and Isaiah is Black. A harrowing tale of desire, despair, and the devil. (author's note)(Horror. 14-18)

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May 1, 2025
Grades 8-12 Sam makes a deal with the devil to save her younger brother after a car crash. Neera wishes to make it big in music and settle her immigrant family's debts. Isaiah contemplates his future at Harvard and a mysterious email. Sam plans to leave his rich family behind on his eighteenth birthday. All four of these recent high-school graduates are pulled together by the mysterious disappearance of Dawson Sumter, who got in too deep as an acolyte to the rich and powerful of Lake Clearwater, a gated community that grows richer as the nearby town of Carrion exists in squalor. Set in southwest Georgia, this humid horror-thriller moves through the four teen narrators who grapple with finding Dawson and fighting a supernatural force (fueled by an emerging 13-year cicada brood) preying on their deepest desires. Kaur's debut offers nuance to the Deep South, acknowledging the politics, religious fervor, and racial tensions often attributed to Southerners with depth and care. Pass to fans of mystery crossed with supernatural forces, such as Andrew Joseph White's Compound Fracture (2024).

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 5, 2025
In Kaur’s Southern gothic horror debut, a periodic cicada emergence brings to light a web of sinister secrets and lies involving a missing boy, four teens, and eerily entwined histories. Every 13 years, screeching cicada broods resurface and descend upon Carrion, Ga., an event that always seems to coincide with the mysterious vanishing of residents and tourists. Local teen Dawson, the most recent disappearance, is last seen in British Punjabi Neera’s immigrant family-owned motel; a blood-spattered room is the only evidence of the victim’s presence. As Neera sets out to learn more about Dawson and the lore behind these missing cases, she becomes involved with three other teens: Dawson’s former friend Sam, tasked with covering up his disappearance; affluent local Reid, part of the town’s wealthiest family; and Black covert crime podcaster Isaiah, who’s determined to investigate a tip he received from Dawson before he went missing. Together they uncover Carrion’s terrifying secrets, including an ancient legend about three devil brothers. Uneven pacing results in a somewhat rushed conclusion, but Kaur perceptively combines themes of classism, prejudice, and generational power with a supernatural premise enriched by an immersive and atmospheric backdrop. Most characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Pete Knapp, Park, Fine & Brower Literary.

July 4, 2025

Gr 9 Up-In Carrion, GA, where folks are born "one toe closer to hell than everyone else," it's an open secret that demons hunt the most desperate, looking to bargain. Unlike their privileged neighbors in Lake Clearwater, Carrion residents tend to turn up dead or missing, misfortune often coinciding with the eruption of a massive cicada brood every 13 years. Against a bleak setting of suffocating humidity, piercing cicada screams, and extreme wealth disparity, four teens connected by the disappearance of a classmate navigate dire life circumstances and unravel a sinister town secret. Sam, the daughter of a ruthless hitman employed by the most powerful family in Lake Clearwater, accepts a demonic bargain when her younger brother is mortally wounded in a tragic hit-and-run. The narrative is then carried forward by Sam; Neera, the daughter of British-Punjabi immigrants; Reid, the son of Lake Clearwater's founding family; and Isaiah, a true-crime podcaster and son of a prominent judge. Kaur adeptly gives voice to these four unique characters with different roots, all struggling to grow in toxic soil. Her stark depiction of the deep south and the grim inevitability of tragedy in Clearwater delivers a tense, engrossing reading experience that starts out strong but concludes quickly with several narrative strands left dangling. Sam and Reid are both white while Isaiah is Black and Neera is mixed. Sam and Neera are both queer and share an attraction that develops into a brief romance. VERDICT A darkly atmospheric supernatural horror perfect for fans of Rory Power or Trang Thanh Tran.-Catherine Cote

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