Snake-Eater

By: T. Kingfisher

Narrated by: Elena Rey

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert—only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.

With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.

Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.

Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.

©2025 by Ursula Vernon. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Elena Rey gives a solid performance of this story in which animal and plant spirits reign over an isolated desert town. Rey conveys the voices and emotions of all the characters, each easily distinguishable from the next. The transitions from Selena's crippling anxiety to her neighbor's fearless personality are done without missing a beat. However, the narration speed is slow to the point that the runtime seems padded. Nonetheless, Rey captures the isolation of the setting, along with the camaraderie of the characters." —AudioFile Magazine

“Hugo and Nebula Award winner Kingfisher (Hemlock & Silver) provides all the chills, thrills, and laughs she’s known for in this dextrous dark fantasy. This time out, Kingfisher’s prose is as stark as the desert setting but still preserves all the usual charming creativity of her worldbuilding…Kingfisher remains extremely good at what she does.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Delightful supporting characters, intriguing mythology, and a neurodivergent protagonist come together for an entertaining story. Besides fans of Kingfisher’s (Hemlock & Silver), place it in the hands of readers of Katherine Addison and Lois McMaster Bujold.” —Library Journal

Another gem by Kingfisher

I love Selena’s journey in this book. It hits right at the heart of anyone who’s been manipulated by others and finds their way back to themselves.

T. Kingfisher never misses

I didn’t even read the description before I bought it. T. Kingfisher books are magical without fail and this is no exception. An excellent story, perfectly narrated. No notes.

Disappointing and Slow

Familiar tropes from an author that rarely misses with her established style of her heroine who never knew their own worth until someone or something brought it out of hiding, makes for what could have been a great paranormal show down in the American Desert, but this one ended up getting in its own way somewhere early on in the inner dialogue.

Perhaps, what is eventually all of the big reveals in the 3rd act, could have come to light earlier in the plot, and dripped out as bread crumbs for us- as this could have made the story’s flow more interesting?
When they make their appearance in the book, they happen all at once, and, in contrast with the first 8 hours, they feel both a bit too late to rouse elements of surprise, or “alarm” (to quote a character from the book), or to change the already well established underwhelmed tone of the story.

A story about small kindnesses

I'm always excited for Kingfisher's thriller/eerie novels! The books have dynamic, realistic characters (without sprawling, pages-long backstories to slog through), and they're always delightful characters to meet. The stories don't try to make themselves "instant classics" or overhyped fantasy- they're slower, smaller stories that are, despite being eerie, cozy and consumable (without being dull).

They are enjoyable rereads, and I've already been through this one twice! Though seemingly small-scale, the lore and world-building is incredibly rich and absolutely fascinating and atmospheric. This book really resonated with me, and the ending, while a bit predictable, was deeply, wonderfully cathartic.

It left me hopeful in a dark time- and wishing for a community like Quartz Creek.

Great characters!

The tight knit group of characters make me want to move to a small town in the desert.