THE BITTERWINE OATH

A 100-year-old act of revenge continues to torment a Texas town.

In 1921, four young women cast a spell to reveal the evil in the hearts of 12 men who committed horrible crimes. The curse went awry, killing its targets. The girls’ involvement was never proven, but suspicions remain. Another massacre 50 years later left a dozen local boys and men dead, the deaths unsolved. As the semicentennial approaches, the town is filled with tension: Is another mass murder on the horizon? Natalie Colter plans to spend the summer before college working and hanging out with friends, but her plans are canceled when Nat discovers, as a last living descendant of the original spell’s creator, she’s inherited a burgeoning, powerful magic. Nat is a Warden, one of a group of spellcasting, gun- and knife–wielding maidens, mothers, and elder wise women, descendants of the original four. Only the Wardens know that the 1971 murders were committed by Woodwalkers, terrifying creatures inhabited by the souls of the original 12 victims; it’s the Wardens’ mission to destroy them. Narrator/protagonist Nat retains her cool even when facing death, and the satisfying conclusion hints at the possibility of another adventure. Evocative writing enhances the horror with a chilling atmosphere. Natalie is White; one Warden is of Mexican descent and another is Black.

Female empowerment at its fiercest.