When the Bones Sing

Starred review from December 9, 2024
Sain (One Last Breath) combines supernatural terror with sweltering Ozark atmosphere in this hauntingly ambitious paranormal romance. Seventeen-year-old Dovie is part of a long line of women in Lucifer Creek, Ark., who are able to hear the bones of the deceased sing after burial, though she spends most of her time annoyed by the constant demands of
the dead. When a staggering number of out-of-towners vanish during a hike on the Aux Arc trail, authorities increasingly rely on Dovie’s abilities to help unearth their whereabouts and give closure to the victims’ families. Then Dovie’s lifelong best friend Lo returns to town. Still plagued by the spirits whose haunting drove him from Lucifer Creek in the first place, Lo, along with Dovie, begins to unravel the mystery behind the disappearances—one that
connects not only to Dovie’s past but to the labyrinthine history of the town itself. Sain’s lyrical prose expertly makes the largely white characters of Lucifer Creek—and their punchy exchanges—jump off the page, while vividly descriptive text evokes an ethereal yet grounded setting. Plot points offer shocking twists that feel appropriately earned in a rural Southern gothic horror novel that will stay with readers well beyond the last page. Ages 14–up.