Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again.
Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.
Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along― before he and the people he loves become the next victims
If you keep up with my reviews at all, you’ll know that I have a bone-deep love of books/shows/movies that exist on the razor’s edge of horror and crime fiction. I tend to be a fan of many things that blend different genres together, but something about crime & horror will always be my favorite…things along the lines of “The Silence of the Lambs” (sometimes I think I love the movie too much to ever read the book, but maybe someday!), “Seven”, and “True Detective”.
And so along comes CJ Leede’s latest novel, HEADLIGHTS, and my horror/crime loving heart is totally full. Oof, this book is a fucking ride! Weird & grotesque & strangely romantic & deeply, profoundly moody. I loved everything about this book.
The story follows Special Agent Daniel Stansfield, an FBI agent and veteran. When we meet Danny, he’s on the cusp of leaving the FBI & reenlisting. He’s burned out, tired on a spiritual level, and we soon learn that the case that left him so traumatized is not at all cold. It’s happening again.
People are found wandering, confused, and wearing the skin of another person. Someone they have ostensibly murdered. The Drifters, as they’re called, have no memory of the crime, and they had no connection to the victim. It happened again and again and again. Each time, the Drifter was found with a piece of human hair tied around their tongue.
Danny was the lead investigator on the case, and he was never able to solve it. Now, despite his misgivings, he returns to Colorado to take another shot at it.
But there’s a lot more waiting for Danny in Colorado than just this ghoulish serial killer. There’s his deeply traumatic & violent childhood, which altered the trajectory of his life. And there’s also his ex-wife and her new boyfriend, both of whom work for the FBI and are on the case in different capacities. There’s ghosts, figurative and literal, everywhere Danny looks. There’s the Bad Feelings he’s had since childhood, premonitions almost. Things Danny doesn’t want to believe are real.
And then there’s Hannah, a mysterious & captivating woman who is discovered at one of the new crime scenes. Danny & Hannah start spending a lot of time together, but is she a suspect or a romantic interest?
That’s as much of the plot as I’m looking to mention, but if it’s not clear from what I wrote, there is A Whole Lot going on in HEADLIGHTS.
Saying that HEADLIGHTS is inspired by THE SHINING doesn’t really do the connection justice. It’s more in conversation with THE SHINING, with the Stephen King classic playing a pivotal role in Danny’s childhood (and also his name). So whether you’ve read the book or seen the movie (or both), you’ll love all the references & connective tissue.
If there’s one thing I love reading about it’s a spooky yet beautiful location, and that’s something Leede does so well here. The Colorado landscape comes across as something equally breathtaking and foreboding, and I loved the balance between those elements.
I will say that HEADLIGHTS is a book that can leave you feeling a bit disoriented & wobbly at times. I tend to prefer feeling a little more grounded in a story, but I never felt overly lost with this one.
I was so genuinely blown away by this book. Danny is such a compelling lead character, someone who has been through hell and back, many times. He’s a deeply flawed guy, and he wears a lot of his trauma like battle armor. HEADLIGHTS is told entirely from Danny’s first person POV, so you’re in his head for the duration, and it’s a painful place to be.
I listened to a fair bit of this one on audiobook & really enjoyed Andrew Eiden’s narration. I don’t know if I was projecting a little because of the connection to THE SHINING, but it felt at times as if Eiden was channeling a young Jack Nicholson. Either way, this is an excellent audiobook if that’s your preferred format!
HEADLIGHTS felt big in a lot of ways. Cinematic. Expansive. But too, it’s also very focused on one character’s interior life, and trauma, and on how he processes grief in a world that feels increasingly strange and hostile towards him. It’s a hard book to describe and I’ve struggled with this review, as I finished it back in mid-June and have had some difficult weeks since. But this one left a big impression on me & it’s definitely one of my favorite horror novels of the year so far!
Big thanks to Nightfire & Macmillan Audio for sending this one my way!!
Grimdark Dad 