The Midnight Pack

Kuliasha debuts and launches the Jericho James series with this fun if predictable urban fantasy. Jericho is a private investigator with a talent for tackling odd cases pinned on cryptids, though after reports of Cthulhu and a chupacabra turn out to be just a giant octopus and a goat, respectively, she’s skeptical of all things supernatural. Then she’s called to search the 100-Mile Wilderness forest in Stillbridge, Maine, for the creature that mauled hiker Katherine Waller. Local authorities point Jericho toward “Kermit the hermit,” a recluse who lives in the woods. She enters the forest to look for him only to be chased by a strange creature, tumble into a ravine, and black out. She awakens in Kermit Grey’s log cabin attended by his adult sons, including the jaw-droppingly handsome Benjamin. As Jericho recovers from her fall, flirts with Ben, and investigates Katherine’s death, she slowly pieces together the Grey family’s chilling secret connected to the shockingly well-funded lab where they research the cure to a mysterious illness. Jericho’s detective work takes a backseat to her romantic arc, and readers will easily anticipate the big reveal, sapping the plot of some tension. Still, the pace is fast, the dialogue is witty, and the atmosphere is suitably creepy. It’s an entertaining start. (May)