I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The past three years have been tough for Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town quietly tucked away in the Ozark mountains. More than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails; there one moment, gone the next, not a trace left behind, until their buried bodies are discovered.

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up.

Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend Lo when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.

Lo doesn’t know peace, though. The shadows follow him everywhere. He soon learns they’re the murdered hikers and they want answers. But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed.

Short and Sweet Review

Dovie lives in the small town of Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, tucked away in the Ozark Mountains. A lot of people have gone missing on the hiking trails and their disappearances are a mystery one minute they’re there and the next their bones are buried. That’s where Dovie comes in, eventually the bones of the missing hikers start humming and Dovie can find their resting place. Some of the older locals in town believe the disappearances are due to the Ozark Howler but Dovie doesn’t believe them and she’s skeptical when her best friend Lo tells her that he’s being haunted by the dead hikers. Dovie and Lo learn that the dead hikers want answers and they know that’s the only way everyone will get some peace but the answers will be harder to find than they think.

I’ve read a few of Sain’s books and I would have to say this one is my favorite. All of the books take place in a small town but something about Lucifer’s Creek was different and very eerie. Dovie is our main character and she’s able to hear bones “sing” which is just a humming and she follows that humming to the location of the bones. I thought her ability was interesting but I could also see how it would take a toll having to be the one finding the bodies of these hikers. Dovie helps the sheriff and his deputy because without her they wouldn’t be able to locate any of the bodies. Dovie is a strong character, she lost her mother at a young age, got her ability at 4. She doesn’t let a lot of things shake her. One thing I found interesting about Dovie is that she has her ability but she’s skeptical when it comes to ghosts or spirits. Lo is Dovie’s best friend and he left for a bit and now he’s back and needs Dovie’s help because he’s being haunted by the hikers. I enjoyed the atmosphere of this small town and following Dovie and Lo go around and try to figure out what was happening to the hikers. I think because there’s some magical elements going on it wouldn’t be surprising if the Ozark Howler really was around. Dovie and Lo go exploring during the day and night but when they went out at night I loved it because we could just feel that something was off in this town. Dovie and Lo do learn information about what happened in the past with their moms but they also learn more about some of the townspeople. The relationship between Dovie and Lo was obvious and I wasn’t surprised when they finally got together, they’ve been friends since they were kids and they seem to have an inseparable bond. I will say at some point we meet the brother of one of the dead hikers and it was like a love triangle and I found that to be unnecessary. I liked the ending and how everything was wrapped up.

Overall, I loved this book a lot. It’s set in a small town and our main character is like a human cadaver dog. The dialogue was great and I truly loved how this story unfolded. I would definitely recommend this book, it’s dark and eerie and the mystery will keep you hooked.