3 Horror Novels That Put an Extra-Terrifying Spin on Death

Rose of Jericho

by Alex Grecian

ROSE OF JERICHO (Tor Nightfire, 335 pp., $28.99) continues what Grecian started with his 2023 novel “Red Rabbit,” and that’s a good thing.

“Red Rabbit” introduced readers to Sadie Grace, who is wanted for witchcraft; Rabbit, the ward of a hunter who is tracking Sadie Grace; and Rose, a widow who eventually adopts Rabbit. The novel traced how these strangers came together, but it also took Grecian’s voice into weirder, far more magical pastures. “Rose of Jericho” picks up as the group travels to the village of Ascension, Mass., to take care of Rose’s sick cousin. Unfortunately, there is more to the town than meets the eye. The house they move into is rumored to be haunted. There is a monster lurking in the nearby woods. And in Ascension, people don’t seem to die. In one case, when a young boy gets run over by a swayback mare pulling a dogcart, his torso is split open and his internal organs exposed … and he just picks himself up and walks to the doctor without any pain.

Rose, Rabbit and Sadie Grace race to get to the bottom of things, but unbeknown to them, something worse than the undead is making its way to Ascension.

Sadie Grace and Rabbit are intriguing enough to make this an engaging narrative, but Grecian also deftly juggles other fascinating characters, like Moses, a man with a bullet hole through his skull who killed Death to avenge his wife. Together, this cast elevates the novel into must-read territory.

Fast-paced, surprisingly funny and unexpectedly grisly, this is Grecian at the very top of his game.