The best thing about Black Sheep is that it is funny. Mordantly so, knowingly so, and that’s part of what makes it so great. It’s also genuinely suspenseful, but it’s the way that it makes you care about its cranky heroine that makes it interesting.

Twenty-three year old Vesper Wright escaped her bizarre family years ago. Her mother was a former horror movie star and has always been distant; her father died young when she was a child. She and her beloved cousin Rosie were raised in in a cult called Hell’s Gate, where her father was worshipped, for reasons she doesn’t understand.

Vesper has escaped and now slings hash in a TGI Fridays-alike chain restaurant. An unfortunate incident involving melted cheese and a sexual harasser results in her being fired. Then the only thing that could ever convince her to return to Hell’s Gate happens: an invitation to the wedding of her beloved cousin Rosie – to her first love, Brody. Desperate for money, Vesper returns to her mother’s old farmhouse out of love for Rosie and healthy spite for everyone else. But the party waiting for Vesper has some ugly surprises in store. Can she leave Hell’s Gate behind her for good?

Black Sheep is gory as heck, sharp as all get out, and archly hilarious in the best of ways. Vesper has been through a lot, but a quitter she is not. Even though she goes through some incredibly dangerous situations she does not buckle.

I will leave it to the reader to find out if she makes it out of there alive. Be warned – this isn’t a romantic book, and there is crazy occult stuff going on between Vesper and her father. Her relationship with her mother is fascinating and easy to lose yourself in. Ultimately if you like your gore heavy, this will be a novel that will entertain you.