Spooky AND Scary

In the Shadow of Blackbirds
by Cat Winters

As a bird watcher, I'll complain that she should learn the difference between blackbirds and crows.
As a reader, I'll keep my mouth shut. This book was superb. Don't start if you're not prepared to finish in a single reading, because that could very possibly happen to you.

1918. The year will be indeliably etched on your brain. It's the year of the Spanish Influenza--face masks--fear--the everpresent smell of onion, camphor and garlic, as people try to ward off the germs with superstition. It's the year of World War I's gruesome climax of trenches and poison gas and young men dying far from home. It's the year when Americans learned to hate all things German--you couldn't say Gesundheit in public without risking arrest. And--as you'll learn here--it's a year when Spiritualist Photographers preyed on people's loss and pain, selling them photographic sessions that might capture the spirit of their loved ones hovering behind.

This is one book you definitely need to read on paper. The illustrations are as remarkable as the text, especially the cover shot. Or if you prefer to audiobook it, have the paper copy nearby.