Donald Maass Literary Agency

Library Journal: Jacob “Trace” Tracy and Boz, his African American partner, are looking for jobs to tide them over until they get hired for their usual work of guiding wagon trains West. Wealthy Miss Fairweather of St. Louis employs them for what looks like an easy task: retrieving a box from a nearby town. Miss Fair- weather didn’t choose the duo by chance. She wants Trace for his ability to see the spirit world, a talent he has possessed (and hidden) since he was injured on the battlefield at Antietam. This first trip entangles Trace and Boz with the interests of a man of unusual talents and evil intent named Mereck, and even as Trace continues to take jobs for Miss Fairweather, Mereck’s attentions grow more dangerous. VERDICT Combining well-wrought historical fiction with just the right amount of scenic details and horror with its tense atmosphere, Messinger’s debut hits on a winning formula. The novel is structured almost like a serial, with different adventures and monsters in each section, but tied together by the friendship of Trace and Boz, and the continuing threats that the spirits pose for the relatively untrained Trace.

VOYA: Believe it or not, Henry’s main problem is not that he gets repeatedly abducted by aliens—it is that the aliens have given him the choice to save Earth from complete destruction or not. Back on Earth things get even harder. Henry is barely holding it together at home and school. His family is broken and troubled. At school, his problems increase. Henry is constantly reminded of his boyfriend Jesse’s suicide, and he avoids his and Jesse’s mutual friend. Then a group of popular guys decide to make it their mission to torture Henry. In the midst of all the pain and drama in his life, Jesse meets Diego. He begins to take a serious look at the people and situations on Earth in order to decide if Earth and humanity are worth saving.
We Are the Ants is a very complex story about serious subjects; however, the writing is not preachy or condescending. The voices of each character are strong and unique. As the characters in the story interact with one another, their language and actions match the situations in which they find themselves. The bullying scenes in the book are intense, violent, and often graphic. Therefore, because Henry experiences so many bad situations, the language that he uses is very explicit. The relationships between Henry and Jesse and Henry and Diego are handled delicately, but the relationship between Henry and Marcus is more shocking. This title is recommend for mature readers.

Booklist: Messinger successfully sets Catholic theology and the occult against an authentic Old West backdrop to create a richly detailed, suspenseful debut. Jacob “Trace” Tracy nearly died in the Civil War, but with his recovery came the ability to see and talk to the dead, a most unwelcome curse as far as he is concerned. The cowboy life suits him, since the dead are more bountiful in large cities, and he and his capable partner, Boz, make a living doing ranch work and guiding homesteaders out West. When Trace takes on a seemingly simple job to retrieve an item from nearby Missouri, he is unaware that his employer, an eccentric Englishwoman named Sabine Fairweather, knows about Trace’s psychic abilities and has more than a passing interest in him. As the novel unfolds, Trace battles demonic beasts, spirits, and sundry other creatures, all the while trying to understand and control his own burgeoning powers. The indefatigable Boz is the perfect sidekick: at once supportive, chastising, and supremely protective (Trace and Boz squabble like an old married couple). Fans of horror and the Weird West will want more of Jacob Tracy, and while Messinger wraps up the ending nicely, there are plenty of dark forces lurking in the shadows suggesting that sequels could be in the offing