The enemy of every hearth, Lilith visits homes and devours children. When a graduate student writing a thesis on Lilith meets the demoness in the shape of a barn owl, she sees the perfect research opportunity … until she learns Lilith is hungry for her child! Will Evelyn be able to protect her son from the owl’s tearing beak and dark heart? Will she be able to keep her husband from falling to Lilith’s wiles? Will she be able to learn who — and what — Lilith is in time to save her child, her marriage, and her mind?
Just this week, I signed up at the new book review website, Book Bloggers. Rob Kroese created the site to make it easier for publishers and writers to get their books seen and reviewed. You can read about what inspired him and what his motivations are here.
I don’t have books that need reviewing yet (soon, my pretties, soon), but the idea of reviewing books for other writers needing their signals boosted was very appealing, so, here we are with my first Book Bloggers review: Lilith by Christine Emmert.
As it says in the synopsis above, Evelyn, a graduate student and new mother, is writing her thesis on the mythical creature/demon, Lilith, only to find the same creature calling to her from her barn. Lilith has taken the shape of an owl, and tells Evelyn that she wants to eat the woman’s baby son. Is this true, or is Evelyn just a little crazy?
Emmert does a good job keeping the reader in the dark about this, but in the way that good horror writers do. Ambiguity, not confusion. The story has an old-school horror feel to it–Shirley Jackson mixed with Lovecraft and Poe–that welcomes you in and keeps you entranced for the length of the tale (a mere 21 pages). Except for a few sentences that I stumbled over, I found Emmert’s use of language lush and lovely. Her characters’ style of speaking did take a little getting used to as it felt very old-fashioned, but this choice worked well for the story, helping to create an eerie and timeless atmosphere. Lilith is a fun dark read.
A click on the photo above will take you to Amazon where you can buy the story, if you feel so inclined, or you can click here.
M. Fenn 
That does sound like a neat read!
Very much so!