This review first appeared in Booklist on August 1, 2026.
Keenan Reed is tired of monsters. He and his mother have just left one behind in the form of his abusive father, after all. Now they’ve moved back to his mother’s childhood home, hoping for a fresh start. But something seems to be off in the small southern town. There’s talk of shadowy figures and strange happenings. At school, the teachers behave in increasingly odd and erratic ways, while the students have become obsessed with a new mobile game that appears to be changing them into something frightening. As the danger creeps closer, Keenan realizes that monsters can come in many forms. With help from new friends who’ve had eerie experiences of their own, Keenan finds the courage to face this fearsome darkness in order to save his family and new home. Hermon smoothly weaves Keenan’s color-blindness into the narrative, adding welcome texture to his perspective. Hermon’s existing fans will appreciate callbacks to earlier books, but chills will come for all who encounter the menacing creatures and mettlesome monster hunters inhabiting this thoughtful, thrilling, and thoroughly creepy tale.