400 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication: June 9, 2026 by Tor Nightfire
This is the third novel by CJ Leede, and she is quickly becoming an important voice in horror. Which is interesting, because unlike most of us in genre, she didn’t grow up a nerd for this stuff. She had a writing teacher tell her something to the effect of “hey, you know what you write is horror.” So on behalf of the horror reading community, thank you to the teacher. We owe you for that. I was not a massive fan of Maeve Fly, her first book, but I know I was in the minority on that.
I loved Leede’s second novel American Rapture and had an excellent conversation with her about it that you can listen to here Listen to my conversation with CJ Or Or watch it
That novel, in the very normal quirk of publishing, was her first novel. American Rapture had a scope that felt more epic than the page count. This is a neat trick that I felt Leede managed to capture again. Headlights benefits from something all three of CJ Leede’s novels do: they are built on things that are very unique to her as an author and a person. The best authors do that; they make their books one of a kind. If you listen to interviews with CJ or talk with her, one of her favorite things to do is travel road trip style around the western US, and she is a serious hiker. Headlights is fundamentally a love letter to Colorado, and one of the most famous works of horror to come out of the state, King’s The Shining. (I'm nervous as a dog person that she might do a dog rescue horror novel, and it will break me)
At first, the Shining references were jarring to me. I am used to Lovecraft works being mentioned, but he was in the ancient past in my head, so I was disturbed. I thought to myself, referencing modern horror is strange, and then I had to remind myself that The Shining is almost half a century old. SHIT.
The novel has a real True Detective vibe, which would benefit from an even longer form of storytelling, but the damaged detective, tracking a serial killer, is like a power cord driving a great rock song. It is common for a reason. So yeah, you will hear it compared to the first season of True Detective and Longlegs, which is fair, but personally, this to me is a better story than the latter.
Our POV character is Daniel, set to leave the FBI, when a case that has haunted him resurfaces. A serial killer who keeps a victim alive wrapped in the skin of their victim, a pretty big escalation of the killer trophy. This setup is effective and disorientating.
“That's what you want to know,” Hannah says. “I'll tell you,” she braces herself. “I know those plains. I know how to stalk and what is to be stalked, and I heard and sensed nothing. Until that twig snapped. And then in the next second, I was in a motel room with my arms duct taped behind my back and my legs taped together, and I couldn't move. I was paralyzed, I guess. I figured he must have given me something. And um, I…”
The horror elements work in this novel; there are moments of head-shaking gruesomeness, but the unique elements that make this a CJ Leede novel are the strength. One reason this is the literary equivalent of an A24 movie is that you wonder how it got made (in a good way) It is the opposite of the cookie-cutter style some authors banked on a few decades back. James Patterson or Lee Child appeals to a market looking for the same book. All three CJ Leede feel unique both to the greater genre and to each other, and that is perhaps the coolest magic trick. There is also a moment on page 344 that made me cringe hardcore.
Headlights is a part of an exciting horror trend that is built on unique voices. Leede’s first novel, Maeve Fly didn’t work for me, but I respected the unique flavor. Headlights has it all. Highly recommended.
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