Well, I was going to wait until tomorrow to write this review because I stayed up way too late to finish this book. But I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while as the experience I just went through needs to settle in my mind before I can drop off into a peaceful slumber. This book grabs you from the beginning. Spooky. Surreal. Unbelievably taut and tense from start to finish. This first installment in the Crescent City series set in New Orleans in the early 1800's introduces us to Zeolie Cheval who sees unspeakable things happen to her father on the eve of her twenty-first birthday. How does she stop this evil force that is now coming for her? As I was reading, I had to remind myself to breathe. And forget about putting it down. It wasn't going to happen. So I'm hoping that talking about my reaction to this story, so engrossing and deliciously scary, will help me sleep the way I did last night. You know. Before reading this book. Back when I didn't have to look around corners and turn on lights before stepping into rooms I knew by heart on those dark nights before this. (Were they really this dark before??) I think I will probably be okay. But maybe I need to start the second book in the series instead. Yeah. I think that's what I need to do. But with the house alarm on. And all the lights. Thanks, Nola Nash, for the signed copy of an exquisitely written story that I will be thinking about for a long time to come. (But I hope not too long. Because of, well you know, sleep.)