SLICE OF CHERRY

Reeves returns to her fictional East Texas town of Portero for a tale more gruesome, disturbing and shamelessly enjoyable than Bleeding Violet (2009). Sisters Kit and Fancy are so close they're like the same person. They don't need anyone but each other—convenient, as they've been shunned by the townsfolk since their serial-killer father was arrested. A home invasion starts the sisters on a spree of magically enhanced torture and killing, focused on rapists, domestic abusers and would-be murderers. Soon, previously aloof neighbors hail the girls as public servants. Meanwhile, their sisterly closeness erodes: At a Juneteenth celebration, Fancy discovers newly murderous magical powers, while Kit shows an increasing interest in boys instead of murder. Somehow, in this orgy of gore, a touching coming-of-age tale emerges, as the two emotionally stunted young women connect with community. The warm, fuzzy moral—that it's fine to be a serial killer as long as you're doing it to help others—will delight and entertain readers mature enough to appreciate that fictional morals needn't always coincide with real-life didacticism. This gleeful page-turner is a winner. (Urban fantasy. YA)