Futility

Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award winner Onoh (Where the Dead Bridges Gather) wows in this marvelously weird horror novel set in Abuja, Nigeria. Local woman Chia sacrifices men to a deity who lives in the walls of her wildly popular restaurant in exchange for gifts, including a British visa and an ointment that makes her the object of desire to any man who sees her. Chia’s path crosses with Claire Bellows, a disgruntled British diplomat with a few deadly secrets of her own, when Claire, her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s mysterious and beautiful cousin, whom Claire resents, and Claire’s estranged son all dine at Chia’s supernaturally enhanced restaurant. The god in the restaurant’s walls offers both women a chance to get back at those who have wronged them, kicking off a series of catastrophic events, culminating in a thrilling game of cat and mouse made complicated by body swapping. Exhilarating twists and turns, artful moments of extreme gore (the novel opens with a castration scene), and a dose of revenge make this a fun, blood-spattered tale. The antiheroines are unreliable narrators and unrepentant in their crimes, and that only adds to the enjoyment. Lush with folklore, body horror, and dark humor, this will leave readers both wincing and cackling. (Oct.)