Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review. And we’ve got another Goodreads Horror Afficionados pick.
Happy Bank Holiday weekend if you’re reading this in the UK. With any luck, you’re reading this review in the sun with a cold, alcoholic drink.
I presume that everybody reading this has their own memories of Covid. Considering that six years ago (at the time of writing), the United Kingdom was in lockdown. It was such a surreal period to be alive and just trying to make sense of things on a day-by-day basis. There are times when it feels like only yesterday, while at others it feels like a different life. But if there’s one thing I distinctly remember, it’s the people I spoke to at the time saying things like: “When this is all over, I bet all the films and shows and books will be all about Covid. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”
Generally, we are in control of the media we consume, so we can pick and choose how many stories we take in that are set during the Covid era. Personally, I don’t think I’ve been drowning in Covid stories. They crop up from time to time. As this one did. I had no idea what it was about until I picked it up from my library and then waded in.
Bat Eater introduces us to Cora Zheng, a Chinese American woman living in New York. When we first meet her, she is out with her sister Delilah, struggling to buy toilet paper during lockdown. They are in the subway, waiting for their train, when a racist psychopath pushes Delilah in front of an oncoming train because he thinks she is responsible for the spread of COVID.
Fast forward a few months, and Cora has gotten herself a job as a crime scene cleaner. She’s had to quickly get used to the sight of blood and entrails. Thankfully, she finds friendship in her two coworkers. Together, they find a way to deal with the unpleasant job. Things take a turn when the team finds themselves constantly cleaning up after the murders of Asian women. And they also find a bat at every crime scene. Have they stumbled upon the calling card of a serial killer?
While it’s no secret that the coronavirus originated in Wuhan – and despite the fact I know people who said (during Covid) that they would never eat Chinese food again – I hadn’t realised just how bad things have been for the Asian population around the world. Especially post-COVID. Through Cora, we experience a gateway into a world where she is abused daily because of her ethnic origin. She is called Bat-eater and various other things.
Part of this feels extra poignant in today’s society, here in the UK as well. Last weekend, I was on the train to London and had the misfortune of sharing a carriage with people who were on their way to the Tommy Robinson march. These are the same people who believe that “foreigners are coming over here and eating swans and corgis”. That’s right. These people live and breathe and walk among us. Lord knows what they’d call Cora Zheng if they read this book. I imagine they’d be on the side of the serial killer.
I read to escape and to be entertained. Horror fiction is entertainment. But horror is also very real. And for the evidence of that, you need look no further than racism.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆(4 stars)
