Humboldt Cut | Allison Mick | Horror Thriller | Netgalley Audiobook Review

 

Which book is closing out your January reading list? My last book for this month is Humboldt Cut by Allison Mick that I got as a DRC from Netgalley.

Name of Book: Humboldt Cut

Author: Allison Mick

Publisher: RB Media

Publication Date: Jan 27, 2026

No. of Hours: 10 Hours 8 Minutes

Format: Audiobook

Jordan Peele and Jeff Vandermeer meet The Overstory in comedy writer Allison Mick’s darkly humorous debut eco-horror novel, as a Black woman returns home to the redwood forests of northern California, only to unearth the monsters that lurk among the trees …

Jasmine Bay is a nurse for an Oakland mental health facility, battling her own demons, caught in a spiral of suicidal despair. Estranged from her brother James and his wife Tilly, who was once her best friend, Jas has chosen self-isolation to protect herself—even if it means denying herself a hopeful future with co-worker and potential love interest Henry Lewis.

When her godmother dies, Jas returns to Redceder for the funeral, a logging town where her grandfather William Whipple made a living deforesting the countryside, ripping and raping apart nature’s very foundations for corporate profits. As trees fell to axes and chainsaws, so did dozens of lumberjacks, falling prey to the dangers of their job—and to the ecoterrorism of Jas’s grandfather who was lynched for his crimes.

And buried in the haunted woods are even more dark secrets perpetrated by Jas’s family. Unnatural acts giving birth to entities made of human flesh and petrified bark, seeking to avenge the devastation that ravaged their land. It is an inheritance that threatens to consume the remnants of Jas’s family, and her very sanity …

My Opinion

Humboldt Cut by Allison Mick is marketed as an eco-thriller, but the story unfolds at a notably slow pace. I kept waiting for a gripping turn of events, something to raise the stakes and hold my attention, yet much of the book focuses on extended character backstories rather than plot progression. While deeper character insight can be valuable, here it felt excessive and slowed the momentum. The prologue, however, was genuinely intriguing and set expectations the rest of the novel didn’t quite meet. The narrative also seemed uncertain whether to lean into paranormal elements or witchcraft themes. On a positive note, the narrator’s voice was engaging throughout.

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