{"product_id":"bat-eater-and-other-names-for-cora-zeng-a-horror-mystery-of-a-chinese-american-crime-scene-cleaner-serial-killers-and-hungry-ghosts","title":"Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng","description":"\u003cp\u003eCora Zeng cleans crime scenes in Chinatown during the early pandemic, and dead bats keep turning up on her jobs. Kylie Lee Baker's horror novel pairs a serial-killer mystery with Chinese folklore's hungry ghosts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReadical Key Points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWinner of the 2025 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne of the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e 100 Notable Books for 2025\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA horror mystery set in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on the Hungry Ghost Festival\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeals directly with murder, suicide, grief, mental illness and anti-Asian violence, with graphic gore\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFirst published in 2025; this first trade paperback edition, 304 pages, Hanover Square Press, 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCora's sister Delilah was killed when a man shouting the slur in the title shoved her into the path of a subway train. Since then Cora has buried her grief under a fear of germs and a growing doubt about what is real, while her aunt urges her to prepare for the festival. When the victims whose scenes she cleans turn out to be East Asian women, the ghost story and the murder case begin to merge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is written for horror readers who want the genre tied to recent history, and for mystery readers comfortable with gore and grim humor. Here the hungry ghosts arrive in a city already full of the grieving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKylie Lee Baker writes novels for both teens and adults, and \u003cem\u003eBat Eater\u003c\/em\u003e was her first novel for adults. Her writing draws on her Japanese, Chinese and Irish heritage and her time living abroad. She holds a B.A. in creative writing and Spanish and an M.S. in library and information science.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Brand New and Readical Ready.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReadical™ is an independent bookstore and reading-products brand built around a simple idea: books matter most when what we learn leaves the page and enters our lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eApply the Page. Get Readical™.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hanover Square Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48025454772373,"sku":"NEW-ING-1335001522","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0800\/5861\/3909\/files\/upload-1789784688948.jpg?v=1789784690","url":"https:\/\/readical.com\/products\/bat-eater-and-other-names-for-cora-zeng-a-horror-mystery-of-a-chinese-american-crime-scene-cleaner-serial-killers-and-hungry-ghosts","provider":"Readical","version":"1.0","type":"link"}