A FEAST FOR THE EYES

Four teens try to capture a photo of the monster that’s stalking them.

In Pine Cove, a small town on the Oregon coast, something has lurked in the woods for decades—a monster that locals call the Watcher, who “hunts people down because they’re keeping secrets.” After Shay and her girlfriend, Lauren, have a fight in the woods about their closeted relationship, the Watcher fixates on them as its next target, attacking and injuring Lauren. When the police react with skepticism to their story, the girls feel sure no one else will believe them either. Shay teams up with Zoe, an aspiring photographer who needs to make her portfolio more distinctive if she’s going to snag the competitive college scholarship she’s competing for. Together with Shay’s best friend, Jack, and Zoe’s best friend, Parker, the girls try to find proof of the monster’s existence before it can hurt them—but doing so may mean revealing the secrets they’ve kept from each other. The prose is gripping and readable, and while the main romance that grows between Shay and Zoe falls a little flat, the vibrant supporting characters and strong themes make this suspenseful work a thoroughly enjoyable read. The primary and secondary cast members are diverse in ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

The queer cryptid thriller you’ve been looking for.