Headlights

Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can't.

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.

Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs, bestselling author CJ Leede's Headlights is a pulse-pounding hunt across the frozen wilderness of Colorado.

Also by CJ Leede:
American Rapture
Maeve Fly

Praise for Headlights:

"CJ Leede's Headlights is instantly seminal. A dazzling juggling of horror without camp; wit without loss of dread; pace without hurry; and most of all, the worldview and empathy of the author. You're gonna have a hard time finding a more thrilling or moving book this year."
--Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Incidents Around the House

"Fascinating villains and a rich mythos... Blending frights, folklore, and an exploration of the lifelong effects of trauma, this will be good fun for horror fans."
--Publishers Weekly

"When I tell you that CJ Leede is a next Stephen King, I mean that while I was reading Headlights, I found myself spiritually transported to when I first read The Shining 25 years ago and the sheer joy of reading--of being thrilled and chilled and shocked and hungry for more. There are nods to King's third novel here...but Leede strikes out for her own territories while paying homage to the stories that have come before....The novel moves in mysterious ways, often shocking, sometimes even downright startling."
--Drew Broussard, Literary Hub

Praise for American Rapture:

Named one of the Best Horror Books of 2024 (Esquire, Vulture, Paste, ScreenRant, and Literary Hub) - A GoodReads and Publishers Weekly Editors' Pick - An Indie Next Pick - A Splatterpunk Award Finalist!

"Blood-soaked, heart-wrenching, grim and glorious. CJ Leede is a singular talent."
--Rachel Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Play Nice

"Bold, fiercely sharp, and deeply unsettling."
--Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Lucky Day

"Plenty of page-turning suspense ... hard to put down."
--Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"A blistering, feverish ride through a uniquely American apocalypse."
--Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of The Staircase in the Woods

"Leede blends heart and horror, taking readers on an utterly bonkers and horrific ride. Buckle up."
--Jimmy Juliano, author of Dead Eleven

Praise for Maeve Fly:

Winner of the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award - Winner of the Splatterpunk Award for Best Novel - A Bram Stoker Award Finalist - One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of the Year - An Indie Next Pick!

"Gory and brutal and beautiful and painful and terrifying and a pure delight."
--Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

"An apocalyptic Anaheim Psycho... oozes enough anguish, alienation, and angst to drown the world."
--Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

"A firecracker of a book that explodes in your hand before you realize you've lit it."
--May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

"Sensual, brutal, sly, joyfully unnerving....It scared the hell out of me."
--Keith Rosson, author of Coffin Moon

"An adrenaline rush of a novel."
--Shelf Awareness, STARRED review