Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
Publisher: 47 North
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by ChollaWith 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.
Selena has nothing to lose. Ditching her partner and taking nothing but the clothes on her back and her ever-faithful dog, Copper, she chooses to start a new life and find whatever it is that she’s been missing. But when she arrives in Quartz Creek, she discovers her only connection to the town has died. Does she stay and try to make it work? Or does she go back to Walter and admit defeat?
Since this was my first T. Kingfisher novel, I honestly had no idea what to expect. What I got, however, was a dark fantasy bordering on horror at times, with more humor than you would imagine. Copper, the black lab, is the source of most of this humor, as labs often are. Grandma Billy, also, is good for a chuckle just when things start to get intense. Thankfully, we had the calming presence of Father Aguirre for when things got truly crazy.
Selena was one of the more interesting characters, in my opinion. Her ex, Walter, was controlling and constantly made her doubt herself. Watching her deconstruct and discover the truth was something special. That moment when she began to realize that Walter’s reality and hers were two different things really stood out.
As someone who has spent most of her life in the desert, everything about this book appealed to me. The bleakness and beauty of the southwest, the native beliefs, and of course, that a road runner was at the forefront of the story. These little birds have fascinated me since I was a child, and it makes me sad that I rarely see them these days. Quartz Creek might seem like a dying town, but there is absolutely more to this sleepy little village than meets the eye. I look forward to reading more of T. Kingfisher’s books in the future. This one certainly lived up to the hype for me.
