Publishers Weekly
★ 08/22/2022
After serial killer Joseph Kincaid plummeted into Georgia’s Cloudkiss Canyon while pursuing amateur environmental scientist Lucy Wilson, his body was never found. Two years later, popular true crime podcast Human Beasties hosts the Killer Quest, a weeklong hunt for Kincaid’s remains with a $20,000 reward. Lucy, now 17, secretly joins the contest, believing that the discovery will finally set her mind at ease (“I’m alive and Kincaid isn’t. And now I’m going to find his bones and prove it”). There she meets 18-year-old Carolina Cassels, whose ex-boyfriend’s mysterious death and father’s religious abuse causes her to believe there’s evil inside her; the two team up with charming, seemingly carefree college sophomore and psychology major Maggie Rey. As the girls, all white-cued, search for the bones, and Lucy and Maggie fall for each other, they must confront increasingly antagonistic contestants and their own fraught pasts. Switching between Lucy and Carolina’s perspectives, Waters (The River Has Teeth) attentively acknowledges the appeal of true crime while confronting the ways in which it can be exploitative. Employing a touch of the supernatural to create a consistently creepy environment, Waters crafts a smart and memorable thriller. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
A classic Erica Waters blend of tension, setting so real you can feel it in the room with you, and language so beautiful you can taste it.” — Wendy Heard, author of She’s Too Pretty to Burn
“Attentively acknowledges the appeal of true crime while confronting the ways in which it can be exploitative. Employing a touch of the supernatural to create a consistently creepy environment, Waters crafts a smart and memorable thriller.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A satisfyingly twisty and refreshingly self-aware examination of human desires for self-knowledge and survival.” — Kirkus Reviews
This young adult, Sapphic love triangle is great for horror fans, and does a great job of centering victims in the conversation on serial killers. — School Library Journal
“Waters’ (The River Has Teeth, 2021) atmospheric, creepy psychological thriller combines true crime fandom, a queer love triangle, and a wilderness survival story…. [a] compelling, twisty novel where perception is compromised and reality is illusive.” — Booklist
Praise for Erica Waters: “This genre-blending contemporary thriller offers a searing indictment of men who prey on women while the book’s fantasy elements offer a form of revenge and resolution… Potent, atmospheric, and wholly satisfying.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A backwoods murder ballad of a book that draws from the old songs and legends that underpin so many areas of rural America. [The River Has Teeth] is well worth a listen.” — NPR
"Soft and seething, with an undercurrent of longing and rage, THE RIVER HAS TEETH is the perfect story for anyone who is tired of feeling helpless. This book has teeth, too." — Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf
"Waters weaves a spell on the page, seeped with dark and murky magic, both beautiful and terrifying, just as her girls are beautiful and terrifying. Set loose upon the Bend, Natasha and Della are two forces crashing into one another with a strength that makes their world tremble." — Emma Berquist, author of Missing, Presumed Dead
"Packed with monstrous magic and a wicked bite, The River Has Teeth is the perfect read for fans of Beware the Wild and Wilder Girls. Fierce and flawless." — Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake
“Full of fierce women and wild magic, The River Has Teeth is a captivating story of love, grief, and the power of anger. From its eerie opening pages to its gripping finale, it kept me enthralled.” — Kate Alice Marshall, author of Rules for Vanishing
“The River Has Teeth is one of those books I could not put down—even when I knew I should. The lush, haunting story gave me the most gorgeous nightmares I’ve ever had.” — Kylie Schachte, author of You're Next
“With its witches, monsters, and missing girls, The River Has Teeth is a hypnotic, suspenseful read.” — Wendy Heard, author of She’s Too Pretty to Burn
“This horror-tinged tale from Waters (Ghost Wood Song) spotlights issues of racial and socioeconomic injustice…. [A] lushly written story.” — Publishers Weekly
“A cathartic portrait of two girls’ anger toward a world whose cruelty and injustice forced them to fight back. The River Has Teeth delivers ferociously good thrills.” — BookPage
“Waters’ southern gothic thriller cleverly uses magic as a metaphor for the ways women resist the harm that men do.” — Booklist
Praise for GHOST WOOD SONG: “What a gorgeous, creepy gem of a book, brimming with magic, mystery, music, and so much love that you’ll ache as if these characters were your actual friends. Ghost Wood Song weaves a captivating spell you won’t want to break.” — Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn and Sawkill Girls
"Ghost Wood Song sings a high and lonesome love song to family, to place, to music, and to love itself. It will make your heart dance." — Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
"These haunted pages are full to bursting with intricate family dynamics, a nuanced queer romance, and a crescendo of an ending readers won’t see coming. With notes of southern gothic and mystery, Ghost Wood Song will strike a chord with fans of The Raven Boys and Beautiful Creatures." — Rosiee Thor, author of Tarnished Are the Stars
"Strikes the perfect balance of atmospheric chills, dark familial secrets, and a yearning for the warm comforts of home. I could hear the cicadas' call and feel the smothering humidity, even as I shivered!" — Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author, House of Salt and Sorrows
"Ghost Wood Song is a dusky, haunting daydream of a debut that hits all the right notes." — Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights and editor of His Hideous Heart
“A gorgeously written debut filled with ghosts, a queer love triangle, a murder mystery, & a healthy dose of bluegrass. When you finish, you’ll want to turn back to page one and start all over again.” — Amanda Lovelace, author of The Princess Saves Herself in this One
“Waters' debut features a bisexual lead with both male and female love interests, an atmospheric southern gothic setting, and, for the musically inclined, lots of folk and bluegrass references. For teens with a penchant for eerie ghost stories, this lyrical tale will hit the spot.” — Booklist
“Debut author Waters weaves an intense and spectral atmosphere with vivid prose…Haunting and alluring.” — Kirkus Reviews
NPR
A backwoods murder ballad of a book that draws from the old songs and legends that underpin so many areas of rural America. [The River Has Teeth] is well worth a listen.”
Kylie Schachte
The River Has Teeth is one of those books I could not put down—even when I knew I should. The lush, haunting story gave me the most gorgeous nightmares I’ve ever had.”
BookPage
A cathartic portrait of two girls’ anger toward a world whose cruelty and injustice forced them to fight back. The River Has Teeth delivers ferociously good thrills.”
Wendy Heard
With its witches, monsters, and missing girls, The River Has Teeth is a hypnotic, suspenseful read.”
Kate Alice Marshall
Full of fierce women and wild magic, The River Has Teeth is a captivating story of love, grief, and the power of anger. From its eerie opening pages to its gripping finale, it kept me enthralled.”
Kat Ellis
"Packed with monstrous magic and a wicked bite, The River Has Teeth is the perfect read for fans of Beware the Wild and Wilder Girls. Fierce and flawless."
Emma Berquist
"Waters weaves a spell on the page, seeped with dark and murky magic, both beautiful and terrifying, just as her girls are beautiful and terrifying. Set loose upon the Bend, Natasha and Della are two forces crashing into one another with a strength that makes their world tremble."
Hannah Whitten
"Soft and seething, with an undercurrent of longing and rage, THE RIVER HAS TEETH is the perfect story for anyone who is tired of feeling helpless. This book has teeth, too."
School Library Journal
12/16/2022
Gr 9 Up—All Lucy needs is closure, to know that the Cloudkiss Killer is truly dead, that she is his last almost-victim and he can never find her again. Carolina, a true crime fan, just needs to know who she is. Maggie, a psychology student, is running from something else entirely. The three come to Killer Quest, a murder podcast-hosted hunt in the woods for the remains of the Cloudkiss Killer, to confront their very different pasts. They meet one another and the rest of the attendees deep in the woods surrounding the canyon where the fog plays tricks and everyone is a heightened version of themselves. The other guests all seem to be in good spirits, buoyed by their love of the podcast until the accidents begin, until they start disappearing, until people start dying. VERDICT This young adult, Sapphic love triangle is great for horror fans, and does a great job of centering victims in the conversation on serial killers.—Sarah Voels
Kirkus Reviews
2022-07-27
Two years after narrowly escaping becoming a serial killer’s next victim while camping with her family, a 17-year-old returns to the site determined to prove the man who haunts her is dead.
When cornered, Joseph Kincaid, dubbed the Cloudkiss Killer, chose the depths of Georgia’s Cloudkiss Canyon rather than face arrest—but his body was never found, inspiring the hosts of a popular true-crime podcast to organize Killer Quest, a weeklong search for his remains with a $20,000 reward. The contest attracts a variety of entrants including 17-year-old Lucy, hiding behind a pseudonym; 18-year-old Carolina, an artist with a traumatic past; and Lucy’s new crush, Maggie, a charismatic psychology student. Carolina’s and Lucy’s alternating perspectives engage with and ultimately critique true-crime subculture: It can inspire feelings of empowerment but also normalize toxic masculinity, romanticize perpetrators, and exploit and objectify victims. Soon, Killer Quest becomes its own real-time whodunit after one contestant is found near death at the canyon’s edge and others experience frightening hallucinations. Creeping, atmospheric tension builds as the remaining participants become aggressive and suspicious, half believing local legends that the fog-shrouded canyon has supernatural qualities. Lucy wonders if Kincaid is still out there, and Carolina, who experiences disturbing intrusive thoughts, is terrified that she has an uncontrollable propensity for violence. Lucy, Carolina, and Maggie hatch a risky plan to expose the threat in their midst, resulting in an explosive, devastating denouement. Main characters read White.
A satisfyingly twisty and refreshingly self-aware examination of human desires for self-knowledge and survival. (Thriller. 13-18)
