Trail of the Zombies is the second installment in the Case Files From the Nightfall Detective Agency series by David Alyn Gordon. Detectives Tori Jacobsen and Abraham Mueller were already investigating the death of Professor Otto Wallace, who was lobbying Congress for better oversight of Indian boarding schools, when a dead Ida Simon visited their agency, seeking their help in finding his murderers. Meanwhile, Monique DeVille is charged by Suzerain to oversee Operation Panic to try to destroy the American economy. Mirella and her underlings are using captives in the Utopia Institute and turning them into zombies to do their bidding. As Tori and Abraham delve further into the case, they discover Mirella's true identity and her plan to get her hands on ancient Aztec treasures and conquer the world.

Part whodunnit mystery and part supernatural thriller, Trail of the Zombies grabs you by the scruff of the neck and refuses to let go until the end. There are shocking reveals and twists and turns galore to keep you on your toes, with a plot that is full of surprises. Author David Alyn Gordon does a fantastic job of mixing supernatural elements with mystery and horror, creating a dark and foreboding atmosphere. Each character has their own agency, and fans of the series will get to know the backstories about a couple of them. The ending doesn't wrap up every plot thread with a neat bow and leaves room for sequels. All in all, it's an entertaining supernatural thriller. If you're a fan of dark fantasy featuring creatures like zombies and werewolves, you won't go wrong with this one!

Trail of the Zombies by David Alyn Gordon begins in 1929 with a champion of Native American rights being killed by a zombie. Through alternating dates and points of view, branches of connected storylines describe efforts by various groups involved in eugenics and secret projects. The biggest and baddest is The Utopia Institute, a site for eugenics-based indoctrination and the horrifically abusive, torturous treatment of Native American children, which becomes the focal point of investigations. When a journalist is murdered after uncovering incriminating documents, his ghost seeks the help of the Nightfall Detective Agency to investigate the Institute. Detectives Tori, a vampire, and Bram, a werewolf, dig in, up against a dark conspiracy that leads to explosive confrontations while trying to uncover connections between eugenics, corruption, and, of course, zombies.

David Alyn Gordon’s Trail of the Zombies is proof that often humans can be more horrible than monsters, shaking up history and the supernatural to deliver a very good story. I like that Gordon uses real-world atrocities, and he does not hold back whatsoever in depicting the abuses in graphic, bloodcurdling detail. The more paranormal dread is initially an undercurrent until it isn't, and what goes down besides a burial of plunder in the Sonoran Desert is, among many other things, a backdoor zombie farm with two familiars pulling the strings. I loved the alternating time frames and the feeling that I knew more about what was happening than I really did. The book is also educational as it taught me a little Latin with the phrase “novus ordo.” Readers need to know going into this book that the commentary on social issues is among the most heartbreaking I've come across, and the story itself is among the most engrossing.