In this feral feminist vampire novel, cats—and cat ladies—are out for blood.
It’s 2005, and Vera Valcourt is an aimless goth waitress in New York City, desperate for something to sink her teeth into. Caged by her Catholic upbringing, her dead-end job, and her deadbeat boyfriend, Vera’s only solace is her rescue cat, Sammy. But when Sammy disappears, Vera is forced to claw her way out of the domestic life she’s been trapped inside.
The frantic search for her missing cat drives Vera into the dark underbelly of cat lore. Following a blood-soaked trail blazed by a medieval abbess and a roaring twenties witch, Vera is cast into a world of ancient myths and ancestral magic, ruthless cults and cutthroat cat ladies. If she and her beloved Sammy are to survive, Vera must uncover the secrets of a deadly feline species with more than nine lives.
A suspenseful mix of occult horror and urban fantasy drenched in dark humor, Nightcats explores the unbreakable bonds between women and their cats, and what we sacrifice to keep our teeth sharp in a world that wants us defanged.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book, even if it is a bit weird. I’m not sure about vampire cats, and I don’t want mine getting any ideas (good thing he can’t read!)
Vera is desperate to find her missing cat, Sammy, and ends up getting heavily involved with a rescue shelter that ends up being a sort of gateway into the strange cat lady cult. But there’s a schism in the organisation – and Vera winds up getting dragged into all of the politics about the origins of the group and what they should be doing for the nightcat Queen.
It’s weird and dark and full of strange people and dangerous cat ladies who might be willing to commit murder to keep their secrets. Bits are quite funny and the cats obviously steal every scene – swarms of blood drinking cat spirits everywhere.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
