Cranberry Cove by Hailey Piper
Bad Hand Books, LLC (April 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Hailey Piper creates a haunting atmosphere and writes with stunning prose in her Bram Stoker Award-winning novella Cranberry Cove.
In the desolate halls of the Cranberry Cove Hotel, there’s an evil once called upon but abandoned. Even rodents didn’t dare enter. No one did until Emberly’s boss, Ricard, sent she and her partner, Conner, on a mission after his son was s*xually assaulted. What stands out here is: one, the victim is male, and two, there’s a lot of nuanced information. He didn’t see his attacker. There don’t appear to be secret passages to allow someone to sneak in and out unseen. Still, Richard’s son is instantly believed, a privilege both cisgender and transgender women fight tooth and nail for.
When reading, I couldn’t help but think how many cisgender women don’t acknowledge that transgender women experience all the same struggles of toxic masculinity and misogyny. Of course, they do. This experience and empathy acquired in overcoming gender roles and stereotypes make Emberly the most equipped to discover what’s in the hotel. Because to women, the first thought is that this can never happen again.
On top of that, if Emberly and her partner Conner can’t find answers, their boss is ready to start a street war with a rival group he blames for his son’s assault. This element raised the stakes when mentioned, but I would’ve liked to see those stakes rising, increasing the pressure to figure out what the hell happened in that hotel. What would happen if they couldn’t find the answers? Or not soon enough? What did a street war mean when Ricard was out for blood?
Aside from that hang-up, I devoured this book and am amazed by Piper’s ability to craft a personal story that speaks to all women and urges men to re-evaluate their definition of safety.
Rash, aggressive men with guns and a strict sense of masculinity won’t last long in Cranberry Cove.
This is a hell of a read. Cranberry Cove is for you if you like haunted hotels, occult horror, and supernatural mysteries. Fans of Horror Hotel by Faith McClaren and Victoria Fulton or In The Hills Above The Gristmill by Kalvin Ellis will also enjoy Cranberry Cove.
