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Nightjars
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26Win a free print copy of this book!
27 days and 23:00:59
25 copies available
U.S. and Canada only
Memento
meets
Dracula
in this heart-thudding, unpredictable, and beautifully crafted novel of a man exposed for crimes he doesn’t remember committing, and the monsters that dwell at the heart of us all, from celebrated and critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.
One rainy night on a first date, Luke Oshel’s new crush never comes back from the restroom. But she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.
Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his father, who killed his victims by exsanguination before his own death. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.
As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.
One rainy night on a first date, Luke Oshel’s new crush never comes back from the restroom. But she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.
Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his father, who killed his victims by exsanguination before his own death. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.
As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 29, 2026
9 people are currently reading
13804 people want to read
About the author
Michael Wehunt
45 books452 followersMICHAEL WEHUNT has been a finalist for multiple Shirley Jackson Awards and was shortlisted for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts' Crawford Award. In Spain, his stories have garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. He haunts the woods outside Atlanta with his partner and their dog. Together, they hold the horrors at bay. Find him in the digital trees at www.michaelwehunt.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 22, 2026
Thank you SMP/Macmillan for the e-ARC of this book! I was so gripped by the description of this book, and I started reading it immediately. It was definitely different than anything I’ve ever read, which is something I always appreciate. I really had no idea where the story was going until the actual reveal of the situation. There were definitely a lot of moments that creeped me out, and I had to wait to pick up the book again until the sun came up (I’m a baby, I know)! I’ve lived in Georgia for almost all of my life, so I quite enjoyed the familiar feeling of the setting. I’m still relatively new to the horror genre, but I think horror veterans and newbies alike will enjoy this story. It releases in late September, and I think it’ll be a fabulous one to read during spooky season!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I simply can never have enough vampire stories, no matter how many I consume there's always an author finding new ways to mold the archetype into something fresh. Nightjars features a more folklore kind of vampire, there's something wrong in them thar hills vibes if you catch my drift. Gory and psychological, at times a crime thriller, other moments a slasher film. Wehunt crafts a a raw metaphor for childhood trauma & addiction, alongside a tender exploration of the complexities of parental love and co-parenting. Luke was an endearing character throughout even with with the potential of being a blood thirsty killer. The Kristian played a much larger roll in the plot then I was expecting based on the description, but this was a pleasant surprise since she was a bad ass and a great foil for Luke
"The human animal has long been drawn to the vitality of blood. Everyone has a monster of some sort inside of them"
I am a sucker for the use of found media in a story (photographs, journal entries, torn pages of a book). The descriptions of the photographs in particular were my absolute favorite aspect of this book. I loved how they played with the unsettling of nostalgia and the fallibility of memory.
"Does the nightjar remember the night"
This isn't a story without its flaws. Wehunt's writing style is descriptive to the point of being both evocative and abstract. When paired with an unreliable narrator and a poet as POV characters the meaning behind sentences become muddled and hard to grasp at times. There were also several instance of lore dumping that I wish had been incorporated more naturally into the plot. Nothing takes the wind out of a scene more then a villain monologue. This just comes down to personal preference, but I wish the ending had been less action oriented and held on to the slow, creeping tension established throughout the rest of the book. It still made me shed some tears though I wont lie.
* Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review. *
"The human animal has long been drawn to the vitality of blood. Everyone has a monster of some sort inside of them"
I am a sucker for the use of found media in a story (photographs, journal entries, torn pages of a book). The descriptions of the photographs in particular were my absolute favorite aspect of this book. I loved how they played with the unsettling of nostalgia and the fallibility of memory.
"Does the nightjar remember the night"
This isn't a story without its flaws. Wehunt's writing style is descriptive to the point of being both evocative and abstract. When paired with an unreliable narrator and a poet as POV characters the meaning behind sentences become muddled and hard to grasp at times. There were also several instance of lore dumping that I wish had been incorporated more naturally into the plot. Nothing takes the wind out of a scene more then a villain monologue. This just comes down to personal preference, but I wish the ending had been less action oriented and held on to the slow, creeping tension established throughout the rest of the book. It still made me shed some tears though I wont lie.
* Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review. *
May 3, 2026
This was perfection! Wehunt did an amazing job of blending classic vampire lore with modern day murder mystery, crime, and psychological thriller. It was a layered story of generational curses (of the supernatural kind) trauma, addiction, and family. The love the main character Luke had for his daughter and ex-wife absolutely crushed me.
I enjoyed the different medias used throughout the book to go with the main storyline. We get backstory and a better picture of repressed memories through pages of a journal and also through hypnotherapy notes. We also get some historical background on Nightjars through pages of a book that belonged to Luke’s father. It all played really well alongside the current story.
So yeh. Appalachian folklore, but make it vampires! This book appealed so much to my mountain roots. I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone who enjoys Appalachian horror. It honestly made my heart so happy. The creepy factor was 10/10 and some of the imagery will haunt me for days to come.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Michael Wehunt for the ARC!
I enjoyed the different medias used throughout the book to go with the main storyline. We get backstory and a better picture of repressed memories through pages of a journal and also through hypnotherapy notes. We also get some historical background on Nightjars through pages of a book that belonged to Luke’s father. It all played really well alongside the current story.
So yeh. Appalachian folklore, but make it vampires! This book appealed so much to my mountain roots. I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone who enjoys Appalachian horror. It honestly made my heart so happy. The creepy factor was 10/10 and some of the imagery will haunt me for days to come.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Michael Wehunt for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
352 pages
3 stars
Oh my gosh, they are real birds. Beautiful birds.
I was very entranced with this book. But I was also confused. I found it heavy going in places. I needed to turn the pages back and re-read. Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood to delve fully into the novel. I have no idea how I could be so taken with the book and yet find it so hard going. Maybe I was in a mood.
The story seemed to hop around too much in places. I was very taken and yet I wasn’t.
I finally had to put it aside. I do want to return to it. I hate leaving a book unfinished, especially one with as much promise as this one shows.
I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for forwarding this book to me. I fully intend to finish the book. (I almost made it !!) I will revise my review when I complete the novel.
3 stars
Oh my gosh, they are real birds. Beautiful birds.
I was very entranced with this book. But I was also confused. I found it heavy going in places. I needed to turn the pages back and re-read. Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood to delve fully into the novel. I have no idea how I could be so taken with the book and yet find it so hard going. Maybe I was in a mood.
The story seemed to hop around too much in places. I was very taken and yet I wasn’t.
I finally had to put it aside. I do want to return to it. I hate leaving a book unfinished, especially one with as much promise as this one shows.
I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for forwarding this book to me. I fully intend to finish the book. (I almost made it !!) I will revise my review when I complete the novel.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews