IN NIGHTFALL

Siblings sent to small-town Oregon for the summer learn there’s something sinister afoot.

Theodora and her brother, Marco, would have preferred to stay in Phoenix for summer vacation, but because they got busted throwing a destructive party for which they nearly got arrested, they are forced to go with their recently divorced dad to his hometown of Nightfall to visit the grandmother they’ve never met. Nonna is superstitious and a bit eccentric, insisting that Theo and Marco follow her rule of not staying out past dark. But what’s the point of being in a new place if not to hang out with the attractive and alluring locals who party on the beach at night? Theo also befriends Elijah and Felix, a tourist couple with a popular horror podcast. She doesn’t want to believe the tales they are spinning, but she soon realizes that something is indeed quite off about this place. Readers will catch on to what kind of monsters lurk in Nightfall long before Theo does in this compulsively readable story. The unsettling and eerie tone throughout makes for a captivating ride, while teenage angst and lust make the characters interesting and relatable. When Theo does finally learn the truth, the story shifts into gruesome, exciting, action-packed horror. Theo and Marco are Mexican American on their mom’s side and implied Italian American on their dad’s; there’s racial diversity among the local residents and tourists.

A delicious tale filled with desire and bite.