Certain Dark Things (2016)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia revitalises vampire lore by ditching European decadence in favour of indigenous Mesoamerican mythology in a neon-lit, cartel-dominated Mexico City. Her protagonist Atl belongs to the bird-like Camazotz subspecies, whose predatory feeding requires razor-sharp survival instincts rather than seductive drawing-room manners. The novel treats hunger as an unforgiving ecological demand, intertwining the brutal reality of physical sustenance with street-level underworld politics.