Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker

Format: 336 pages, Paperback

Published: January 8, 2026 by Hachette

Horror /borrowed

Sometimes my brain is not working at its fullest. I started reading this one, but did not get far. Anyway 3 h later it hit me why it was called bat eater! I thought it was like cos it was horror. Not because the book would deal with racism.

Srsly, why were people like that? I did not fear anyone more than anyone else while Covid was at its worst. If anything people should have feared me most! I worked through it all, SO worked through it all, my kid was at daycare through it all. Honestly the only thing I noticed about Covid was those stupid masks that I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated. Other than that business as usual.

Covid hit NY. Cora found herself without a job. Her sister was pushed infront of a train. Now she works as a crime scene cleaner.

And someone seems to be killing Asian women....

Oh and there are ghosts. This is the ghost month when ghosts come back and they are hungry so there are rules you must follow, but Cora did not so now they are huuuungry.

This book dealt with covid, racism, and ghosts. Quite the mix. I am glad I do not have to deal with hungry ghosts, they sound scary.

It started off a bit slow, but it got interesting. I waited for the horror aspect. But then it all was horror because people will always be scarier than ghosts

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. The bloody messes don't bother her, not when she's already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words: bat eater.

Months pass, the killer is never caught, and Cora can barely keep herself together. She pushes away all feelings, disregards the bite marks that appear on her coffee table, and won't take her aunt's advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open.

Cora tries to ignore the rising dread in her stomach, even when she and her weird co-workers begin finding bat carcasses at their crime scene clean-ups. But Cora can't ignore the fact that all their recent clean-ups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

Soon Cora will learn: you can't just ignore hungry ghosts.