Good Girls--Motherless Children #2

Starred review from December 21, 2015
Set in the immediate aftermath of the justly lauded Motherless Child, this intense novel weaves its themes of love, loss, family obligation, and personal sacrifice into another richly textured tale of supernatural horror. The Whistler, the monster who turned previous heroines Natalie and Sophie into vampires, is still on the prowl and determined to revenge himself on Natalie’s mother, Jess, who killed her own daughter and thus deprived him of his “Destiny” with her. The Whistler’s pursuit of Jess eventually enmeshes Rebecca, a college student in East Dunham, N.H., who babysits Natalie’s orphaned son and is beginning to feel a daughterly bond with Jess that she never knew during her own childhood. The novel’s suspenseful finale is a bravura display of storytelling finesse; its visceral horrors are intensified by the care that Hirshberg has taken to develop the emotional lives of the characters on whom the horrors are inflicted. A subplot involving the Whistler’s extended monster family suggests that Hirshberg is expanding his vampire mythos for future stories.

January 1, 2016

Leaving the South for a dilapidated house in rural Vermont, Jess brings her injured partner, her infant grandson, and Sophie, a creature who was once her daughter's best friend. This was before the vampire known as the Whistler turned Sophie and Natalie, Jess's daughter. Before Jess had to kill Natalie. Before Sophie's own baby was murdered by vampires. College student Rebecca is drawn to the strange family, sensing a stronger connection to the clan than the one she had in her own foster family. But the Whistler is on Jess's trail, coming to destroy her for taking what he wanted and with plans to abduct Rebecca in the process. Plotting her own bloody trail of destruction is the creature in the attic. VERDICT The sequel to three-time International Horror Guild Award winner Hirshberg's Motherless Child packs as hard a punch as its predecessor, although it easily stands on its own. Not your average story of vampires, this tale of family, love, and near redemption will please genre and literary enthusiasts alike.--KC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
Southern gothic meets unsuspecting New England collegiate in this harrowing follow-up to Motherless Child (2014). Jess and her grandson, Eddie, survived the vicious assault of the sombrero-clad vampire Whistler, and they attempt to make a new home in a quiet New Hampshire town. Whistler is back on the hunt, and Jess' babysitter, Rebecca, piques Whistler's interest. The young woman soon finds herself and her friends the target of his mayhem. As Rebecca learns more about Jess' surreal circumstances, she is determined to save her loved ones from the horrific Whistler. There is plenty of destruction, shocking sexuality, and gore to satisfy the most ardent horror fan, but Hirshberg has the unusual talent of omitting just the right amount of detail to let imaginations run wild. As with his previous novel, Hirshberg sets the story against a backdrop of interesting music references, offbeat humor, and lurid violence. Interludes hint at Whistler's background and the monsters lurking in the dark corners of the Mississippi delta, meaning this may not be the last of Hirshberg's refreshing take on vampires.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)