Whiteland

The eerie first horror novel in the Whiteland series from Cranie-Higgs (The Unspoken Code) takes readers down a terror-filled rabbit hole in the Swiss Alps. Kira McFadden’s sister, Romy, is always wandering off and getting into trouble, so when a stranger, Callum, finds Romy passed out in the snowy woods during a family vacation in Switzerland, none of the McFaddens are surprised. But Romy recovers from what should have been fatal frostbite at an unnatural speed and her behavior grows even more erratic than usual—leading Kira to the paranoid belief that the thing Callum brought back from the woods is not actually her sister. When Kira and Callum go out to investigate the spot where Romy was found, the forest around them suddenly changes and the paths become a maze. As they try to escape the trees, the forest—or something in it—plays tricks on them, even dangerously altering their minds, and whatever’s controlling the illusions may be connected to the McFadden family in ways Kira does not yet understand. Though some of the twists are predictable, Cranie-Higgs does an admirable job evoking the otherworldly feeling of the woods, which become increasingly terrifying and strange as the book goes on. This powerful series launch will haunt readers well after they’re done reading. (Oct.)