Exposure

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In the follow-up to the National Book Award-longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer-and the ghosts he leaves behind. A dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective who sees the ghosts of his Native victims. In the follow-up to the National Book Award-longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer-and the ghosts he leaves behind. A dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective who sees the ghosts of his Native victims. In Gallup, New Mexico, where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Native people whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help. Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi on the Navajo reservation, Rita's grandma is getting older. Maybe it's time for her to leave policework behind entirely-if only the ghosts will let her . . .

Reviews

Praise for Exposure

Nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Paranormal Novel
A Barnes & Noble Best Mystery & Thriller Book of 2024
The Washington Posts 10 Best Thrillers of 2024
BookPages 10 Best Books of 2024
An Amazon Editors Pick: Best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Series Books of 2024
A LibraryReads Top Pick of the Month
An Apple Books Best Books of the Month

The prose style seems even more visceral and sharpened, and Rita, with her visions of the dead and her righteous need to find justice for the marginalized, remains an indelible protagonist . . . Exposure confirms Emerson's talents.
The New York Times Book Review

Emerson takes us into the dark better than most storytellers, but she never once forgets that we need to reemerge.
E.A. Aymar, The Washington Post

Hauntingly mysterious.
Ms. Magazine

Emersons novels arent for the faint of heart. Like Shutter, Exposure begins with the graphic description of a crime scene, and gory and disturbing scenes continue at a fairly brisk clip throughout the rest of the book. But those who appreciate more than just a basic whodunit will appreciate the novel, which draws from a rich well of New Mexican and Indigenous history.
Pasatiempo

Ramona Emersons Exposure, her second novel about police photographer Rita Todacheene, takes another leap forward, weaving in poignant looks at Navajo culture, crimes against Native Americans, mysticism, family ties and mental health issues.
South Florida Sun Sentinel

In addition to it being an enthralling story I love that this contemporary mystery combining police procedure, photo technology, and a bit of the paranormal with a complex protagonist was written by a woman who is, herself, Din and was actually a police photographer in Albuquerque.
Colorado Sun

Hard to put down.
The Free Lance-Star

Compulsive and addictive.
LitReactor

Exposure is intense, gripping, moving, and so gorgeously written. I often stopped to reread certain passages purely for the elegance of her language, descriptions of scalded beauty. A stunner!
Mona Susan Power, author of A Council of Dolls

Tightly paced, with evocative description and a strong sense of voice, this is a novel you wont be able to put down until the final word.

Electric Literature

From the very first page, Exposure is equallyif not moreelectrifying than the first, allowing both fans and newcomers to jump right in . . . Emerson, a Din writer and filmmaker who hails from Ritas own hometown of Tohatchi in the Navajo Nation, masterfully commands these tightly wound plot strands, varying the tension and pacing with comforting moments with Ritas beloved elderly neighbor, Mrs. Santillanes . . . Rita Todacheene is a gritty, believable character with a heart that is equal parts steel and soul. Readers will immediately be clamoring for more.
BookPage, Starred Review

Ramona Emerson so effectively describes the starkly beautiful country and the uncompromising weather, which is a formidable antagonist in the plot, that you may need a hot cup of something as you read. She integrates the Native American traditions and beliefs into the modern tale in a way that gives science (the medical examiner), belief (the Navajo) and procedure (the police) their due all three coming together in Rita. They are not always easily reconciled, and her struggles make for a unique and compelling story.
Crime Fiction Lover

Riveting . . . Visceral prose elevates Emersons impressive blend of crime fiction and supernatural horror. This series deserves a long life.
Publishers Weekly

For fans of forensic leads, dark mysteries, dual POV (including the killers), and ghosts! . . . You can start here and not feel lost, but if youd like to start at the beginning of this great series, pick up Shutter.
Book Riot

A compelling, interlocked portrait of two troubled souls.
Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Shutter

A Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick
Longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award
Finalist for the 2023 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
Finalist for the 2023 PEN Open Book Award
Finalist for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best First Novel
Finalist for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the 2022 Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery Novel
Nominated for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel
Nominated for the 2022 Strand Magazine Critics Award for Best Debut
Nominated for the Barry Award for Best Debut Mystery or Crime Novel
The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year
An NPR Best Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
CrimeReads Best Horror Novels of the Year
A South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Books of the Year
An Orange County Register Best Mystery Books of the Year
Outside Magazine 10 Best Books of the Year
Book & Film Globe Best Books of the Year
An ABA Indie Next Selection
An ABA Indie Next Gift Guide Selection
An ABA Summer 2023 Indie Next List for Reading Groups
A PLA LibraryReads Selection
A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime Book of Summer

A perfect blend of thriller, horror, and coming-of-age story.
The Boston Globe

Haunting.
The New York Times Book Review

This story is way more than a thriller, more than a ghost story. It is one of family and history, of culture, of past and present, of walking set boundaries and of discovering oneself.
USA Today

This paranormal police procedural is unusual and multilayered, but what stands out is the gorgeously expressive and propulsive first-person storytelling, which is split between Ritas present and her past. A former forensic photographer herself, the pictures Emerson paints with words are as vivid as they are brutal.
Oprah Daily

Shutter is utterly unputdownable. It is a haunting thriller, written with exquisite suspense, and filled to the brim with beautiful writing, through the lens of cameras and memoryan ode to photography, written across the landscapes of the Navajo Nation and cityscapes of New Mexico, about what it means to witness and capture death, be captured by it, told unflinchingly by an author who knows what she is doing on every page. It is fun, and funny, and chilling. This is a story that wont let you go long after you finish, and you wont want it to end even as you cant stop reading to find out how it does.
Tommy Orange, author of There There

A unique perspective on New Mexico and native culture.
New Mexico PBS

Shutter defies easy genre classification . . . Yes, this is a mystery with elements of horror, but the novel also plumbs Ritas relationship with her grandmother, who raised her on the Navajo reservation hours from the city where she now works. The result, featuring one of the best first chapters Ive ever read (admittedly, not for the faint of heart), leaves us with so much more than phantasmagoric thrills.
Book & Film Globe

This mystery-crime-thriller is beautifully and chillingly rendered.
Ms. Magazine

Emerson touches upon subjects that Din often are reluctant to raise or discuss in intimate circles, and does so in ways that allows for conversation about death, the possibilities of a spirit world, gifts of second sight, and witchery and evil . . . Yet, we must acknowledge and work through because it is reality, it is more so a coming-of-age story.
Jennifer Nez Denetdale, Navajo Times

Emerson immediately establishes herself as a new talent with her engrossing debut Shutter, which combines a story of Navajo culture, coming of age, mysticism, family ties and crime detection . . . Emerson is definitely an author to watch.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The thriller read of the summerDark Winds meets The Sixth Sense.
Indian Country Today

Gritty.
Outside Magazine

Emerson creates a powerful tension between Ritas photographic documentation of dead bodies at crime scenes and the spiritual desperation of their souls . . . The title of the novel captures photographys fluidity, at once referring to the blink of a cold, mechanical eye and suggesting the near homonym, shudder, the visceral chill when in the presence of the supernatural.
Ploughshares

[Emerson] navigates family and crime to create a captivating mystery and page-turner.
The Bulletin (Bend, OR)

Get ready for the next wave of Indigenous thrillers! Shutter is a soulful and mesmerizing exploration of the paranormal, set against the backdrop of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Written in tough, edgy prose, this book grabs you by the shoulders and refuses to let you leave. Ramona Emerson is a welcome new voice in Native literature.
David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of Winter Counts

Beautiful, imaginative prose with a sharp edge. Shutter is a powerful and supernatural debut. I've never seen a better rendering of gifts and power. This work understands the spirit world and how it does not relent until we bear witness. Ramona Emerson i

Author Bio

Ramona Emerson is a Dine writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. Her debut novel, Shutter, was longlisted for the National Book Award and the Bram Stoker Award, nominated for the Edgar for Best First Novel, a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel, and winner of the Lefty Award for Best First Novel. She has a bachelor's in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures.