The Restless Dark

August 15, 2022
Two years after narrowly escaping becoming a serial killer's next victim while camping with her family, a 17-year-old returns to the site determined to prove the man who haunts her is dead. When cornered, Joseph Kincaid, dubbed the Cloudkiss Killer, chose the depths of Georgia's Cloudkiss Canyon rather than face arrest--but his body was never found, inspiring the hosts of a popular true-crime podcast to organize Killer Quest, a weeklong search for his remains with a $20,000 reward. The contest attracts a variety of entrants including 17-year-old Lucy, hiding behind a pseudonym; 18-year-old Carolina, an artist with a traumatic past; and Lucy's new crush, Maggie, a charismatic psychology student. Carolina's and Lucy's alternating perspectives engage with and ultimately critique true-crime subculture: It can inspire feelings of empowerment but also normalize toxic masculinity, romanticize perpetrators, and exploit and objectify victims. Soon, Killer Quest becomes its own real-time whodunit after one contestant is found near death at the canyon's edge and others experience frightening hallucinations. Creeping, atmospheric tension builds as the remaining participants become aggressive and suspicious, half believing local legends that the fog-shrouded canyon has supernatural qualities. Lucy wonders if Kincaid is still out there, and Carolina, who experiences disturbing intrusive thoughts, is terrified that she has an uncontrollable propensity for violence. Lucy, Carolina, and Maggie hatch a risky plan to expose the threat in their midst, resulting in an explosive, devastating denouement. Main characters read White. A satisfyingly twisty and refreshingly self-aware examination of human desires for self-knowledge and survival. (Thriller. 13-18)

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Starred review from August 22, 2022
After serial killer Joseph Kincaid plummeted into Georgia’s Cloudkiss Canyon while pursuing amateur environmental scientist Lucy Wilson, his body was never found. Two years later, popular true crime podcast Human Beasties hosts the Killer Quest, a weeklong hunt for Kincaid’s remains with a $20,000 reward. Lucy, now 17, secretly joins the contest, believing that the discovery will finally set her mind at ease (“I’m alive and Kincaid isn’t. And now I’m going to find his bones and prove it”). There she meets 18-year-old Carolina Cassels, whose ex-boyfriend’s mysterious death and father’s religious abuse causes her to believe there’s evil inside her; the two team up with charming, seemingly carefree college sophomore and psychology major Maggie Rey. As the girls, all white-cued, search for the bones, and Lucy and Maggie fall for each other, they must confront increasingly antagonistic contestants and their own fraught pasts. Switching between Lucy and Carolina’s perspectives, Waters (The River Has Teeth) attentively acknowledges the appeal of true crime while confronting the ways in which it can be exploitative. Employing a touch of the supernatural to create a consistently creepy environment, Waters crafts a smart and memorable thriller. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US.

October 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Waters' (The River Has Teeth, 2021) atmospheric, creepy psychological thriller combines true-crime fandom, a queer love triangle, and a wilderness survival story. Killer Quest, hosted by the Human Beasties Podcast, is a six-day contest in Cloudkiss Canyon, Georgia. The challenge? Find the body of infamous serial killer Joseph Kincaid and win $20,000. Three participants with ulterior motives team up. Two years ago, Lucy was almost Kincaid's last victim. Instead, she watched Kincaid throw himself off a cliff as the police closed in. She needs to see his bones to move forward. Carolina cannot remember her boyfriend's violent death and wants to believe she's not a killer. And Maggie is studying the contestants for a psychology paper. As they camp and hike the trails together, attraction and trust devolve into manipulation and violence. The canyon and its constant fog seem to bring out the worst in everyone. Are legends of a supernatural evil true? Or did Kincaid survive? Characters default as white in this compelling, twisty novel where perception is compromised and reality is illusive.

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December 16, 2022

Gr 9 Up-All Lucy needs is closure, to know that the Cloudkiss Killer is truly dead, that she is his last almost-victim and he can never find her again. Carolina, a true crime fan, just needs to know who she is. Maggie, a psychology student, is running from something else entirely. The three come to Killer Quest, a murder podcast-hosted hunt in the woods for the remains of the Cloudkiss Killer, to confront their very different pasts. They meet one another and the rest of the attendees deep in the woods surrounding the canyon where the fog plays tricks and everyone is a heightened version of themselves. The other guests all seem to be in good spirits, buoyed by their love of the podcast until the accidents begin, until they start disappearing, until people start dying. VERDICT This young adult, Sapphic love triangle is great for horror fans, and does a great job of centering victims in the conversation on serial killers.-Sarah Voels

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