Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker Narrator: Natalie Naudus
Published by Harlequin Audio on April 29, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Horror
Length: 8 hrs 47 mins
Pages: 304
Format: Audiobook
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In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.
Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.
Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.
So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.
She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.
As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.
I can’t tell you why I picked up Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I don’t read a lot of horror, I avoid serial killers, and I haven’t been reading many pandemic books. But it was fabulous, in a gory, violent, haunting way.
It’s Summer, 2020 in New York City. In the opening scene, 24-year-old Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah are waiting for the subway when a man appears just as the train approaches. He calls Delilah a “bat eater” and pushes her onto the tracks. She is killed by the train and the man is never caught. resulting in her brutal death before Cora’s eyes. Unfortunately, the man escapes. The second chapter picks up a few months later. Cora is now working as a crime scene cleaner, a job that fits Cora and her need for cleanliness well, but a disturbing number of the jobs have been cleaning the apartments of murdered Asian women. It’s also Ghost Month, which Cora dismisses – until her sister’s ghost shows up at her apartment.
Cora is an amazing character. Life has handed her a lot and she keeps going as best she can. Her friendship with the other two members of the cleaning crew feels realistic even if they are an odd bunch. I love that they accept her despite her quirks and believe her. They make quite a team.
Bat Eater is clearly horror and a serial killer book, so avoid it if blood and guts bother you. But it also touches on so many societal issues – fetishization of Asian women, systemic racism, hate crimes, police brutality, and media manipulation. It does an amazing job of getting its points across without preaching. It’s terrifying and thought-provoking and a reminder that the true monsters are almost always people. We need to do better.
I listened to the audio and the narrator did an amazing job. She brought the story and characters to life, getting across the fear and the moments of humor without being melodramatic.
About Kylie Lee Baker
Kylie Lee Baker is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Night duology, The Scarlet Alchemist duology, and the forthcoming adult horror Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. She grew up in Boston and has since lived in Atlanta, Salamanca, and Seoul. Her writing is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, and Irish), as well as her experiences living abroad as both a student and teacher. She has a BA in creative writing and Spanish from Emory University and a MS in library and information science degree from Simmons University.
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