Review | The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

The Family Game is a mystery/thriller by Catherine Steadman.

A rich, eccentric family. A time-honored tradition. Or a lethal game of survival? One woman finds out what it really takes to join the 1% in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, Mr. Nobody, and The Disappearing Act.

Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .

After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion.

What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly.

The Family Game is a holiday themed thriller that I read with the Horror Spotlight discord group. I want to say straightaway that I liked this book because I'm probably gonna spend this review doing a whole lot of complaining.

First off, for those of you who hate prologues because it usually means the book is boring for a while, I hate to inform you that there is a prologue and the book is, in fact, boring for a while. The Family Game starts out with a man and a woman enjoying the holidays in New York. It feels very much like a super messed up holiday romcom. It's romantic and it's over the top and it's in the big city, but you know from the prologue the female main character is going to wind up bloody and scared for her life on the floor of his family's holiday home.

There is a lot to not believe in this novel, but there's also a lot to keep you reading and guessing and griping out loud.

My biggest fear when I started reading the holiday game was that I would not care whether this woman survived by the end of the book because she's not very likable. But somehow even though I didn't like a soul in this novel, I still wanted to know what was really happening. I'm not usually the type of reader who tries to guess who did it, what the twist is, who's lying, but I was guessing and wondering in The Family Game.

There is so much to unpack now that I have finished reading this novel, but I don't have it in me to do the unpacking that's necessary to make it all makes sense. This book is being billed as a psychological thriller, but it's not what it had hoped to be.

So while I could sit around the kitchen table and gripe about the characters and the plot all day long, I still would not tell you not to read it. If you have The Family Game on your TBR, you should definitely read it. There is something to be said about a book that can make you gripe this much. Read it and then let me know what you think. We can scratch our heads about it together.

3/5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐★★

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Review | Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

Daisy Darker is a mystery/thriller by Alice Feeney.

The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.

Daisy Darker is a messed up book.

Daisy Darker is a story like And Then There Were None and Clue where the characters get picked off one by one. This is all in the synopsis so I guess it's okay to also say this in my review. I absolutely loved And Then There Were None, and I enjoyed Daisy Darker, too. In Daisy Darker, the Darker family is reuniting at their family home Seaglass. They are on an island where when the tide comes in there's no way to leave the island for eight hours until the tide goes back out. It's the perfect setting for one of these trapped thriller novels.

I saw someone on Booktube the other day say when a reviewer says they can't really talk about a book because it would be spoilers that means the reviewer didn't actually read the book (lol). That's a weird hot take, and you are just going to have to believe that I read Daisy Darker because this is one of those books that you can't really talk about without spoiling something. Maybe that Booktuber needs to read more thrillers?

If you enjoy messed up family secrets that slowly get revealed over the course of a book, I recommend you give Daisy Darker a try.

I read my first Alice Feeney last year when I read Rock Paper Scissors. I was anxious to read more books by Feeney and was really excited that Daisy Darker was a Book-of-the-Month selection this year and that it was getting such great reviews from readers that I trust. I love Feeney's characters and her twists and her suspense. I find her books impossible to believe, but I have a great time reading them and I don't want to put them down.

Daisy Darker is a thriller, but it's also horror–adjacent. I recommend it to readers like me who love horror and love thrillers and love reading those books that straddle the line as horror-adjacent.

4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐★

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Review | The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my reading experience.

The Golden Couple is a mystery/thriller from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.

The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us.

Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and a lack of intimacy. She wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son and because she loves her husband. Enter Avery Chambers.

Avery is a therapist who lost her professional license. Still, it doesn’t stop her from counseling those in crisis, though they have to adhere to her unorthodox methods. And the Bishops are desperate.

When they glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.

Most of my friends have given The Golden Couple four or five stars. I'm not sure why The Golden Couple didn't wow me as much as it seems to have wowed other readers. It may just be when I chose to give it a read.

I've only read one other book by the writing duo of Hendricks and Pekkanen, but I enjoyed it. I was looking forward to reading The Golden Couple. While I wasn't disappointed and I did enjoy The Golden Couple, it was mostly just okay for me..

The characters were all unlikable for me which I really enjoyed in the beginning, but the book seemed to lose its focus and honestly so did I. This is a hard review to write because I did enjoy it, but I don't have much to say about it. The Golden Couple did keep me guessing, but for some reason I just wasn't very invested. It could simply be the fact that I was in a book hangover from the five-star read that I read just before this one that had me guessing but was not predictable whatsoever. The Golden Couple may have just fallen prey to having to follow a very unexpected book that worked for me on a level that The Golden Couple just didn't meet.

If you've read and enjoyed other books by Hendricks and Pekkanen, I would definitely recommend you check this one out as well. I have another book on my shelf by Hendricks and Pekkanen that I would still like to go back and read. This one just didn't wow me outside of being a well-written thriller with unlikable characters.

I listened to the audio, and I thought the narrators did a great job. The Golden Couple won't make it onto my list of favorite thrillers for the year, but I enjoyed the time that I spent with it.

 

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐★ ★

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Book Review | Upgrade by Blake Crouch

The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

So. Much. Science. That was all I asked for, and that's what I got!

Upgrade is Blake Crouch's latest science thriller. I enjoyed Dark Matter and I loved Recursion so I was really excited to read Upgrade.

All I knew going into Upgrade was it dealt with genetic engineering. This was correct, but it was quite different than I was expecting! I loved all of the science in Upgrade. One could argue there was too much science, but I love the way Crouch introduces all of the science in his books. He makes it so accessible. He can make the most complicated science understandable.

My biggest complaint with Upgrade is I just didn't care about the characters. There were high stakes and there was a lot of action - I just didn't have that connection with anyone that would have made the action and the stakes so much more suspenseful for me. Even with the entire world at stake, I kind of feel like I've already been living that since 2020. It's not Blake Crouch's fault, but I don't even want to read about viruses or pandemics anymore. I'm over it.

Overall, I enjoyed Upgrade. I got just what I was asking for, but it's not going on my list of favorites for the year. I need more character development so I can root for someone. I will still be standing in line for the next Blake Crouch science thriller, though. The science is certainly something I will continue to want more of. 

⭐⭐⭐★★
3/5 stars

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Book Review | The Last Flight by Julie Clark

The Last Flight is a thriller novel by Julie Clark.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets ― Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

I missed out on reading The Last Flight last year. When the April Book of the Month selections came out last month, I wasn't in the mood for any of the options so I went back and added The Last Flight to my BOTM box instead. I'm so glad I did. The Last Flight was exactly what I was in the mood for. I don't read enough thrillers so I'm always thrilled when I find one that sucks me in and keeps me entertained. I had a bit of a book hangover when I finished.

The Last Flight alternates between two women who are attempting to escape from the lives they've been dealt. One is escaping an abusive husband, and the other is fleeing from a life just as dangerous.

I loved two things about this book - 1) I didn't want to put it down and 2) I loved the friendships. I'm finding more and more friendships in my adult fiction, and I love it. There's not any earth-shattering content that makes this thriller stand out above the rest - it's just a really solid thriller that I enjoyed.

I read The Last Flight during a weekend down at the beach. It's a great choice for a summer/vacation read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★
4/5 stars 

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Book Review | Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

Good Neighbors is a horror-adjacent thriller by Sarah Langan.

Celeste Ng’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this propulsive literary noir, when a sudden tragedy exposes the depths of deception and damage in a Long Island suburb—pitting neighbor against neighbor and putting one family in terrible danger.

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

Arlo Wilde, a gruff has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called “Robot Boy” by the kids on the block.

Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past—welcomes Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon.

As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.

This book is bizarre in a Bentley Little sort of way. The town, the landscape, the people. Something is not right on Maple Street.

It took me a while to get into Good Neighbors. It was so far fetched, but a thread of curiosity kept making me pick it back up. Eventually I was hooked, and I was glad I didn't put it down for good.

Oddly enough I grew to care about the people of Maple Street.

Before each chapter there are news articles recalling the events that took place on Maple Street. I loved the perspective of the interviews and the journalists just as much as I enjoyed the actual story. It's easy to see how one's perspective can be skewed in a situation and how one's bias can shape what they want to believe about their neighbors.

If you enjoy domestic thrillers with neighbors pitted against neighbors, I do recommend you pick up Good Neighbors. It was quite the experience.

⭐⭐⭐💫★
3.5/5 stars

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

The Night Swim is a thriller novel by Megan Goldin.

After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?

Trigger warnings for rape and sexual assault.

Oof. This book is a tough one. A tough one to read, a tough one to rate.

The Night Swim is my first book by Megan Goldin and it's expertly crafted. You are following a true crime podcaster who heads to a small town to cover a rape trial. In her podcasting life, she is careful to hide her identity and her face, but someone in this small town knows who she is and needs her help.

The main plot, the subplots, the narrative - they all deal with rape and sexual assault. At one point it literally broke me.

In the beginning of the book, I honestly thought I would give it 2 stars. It's just not subject matter that I want in my entertainment, but as the book went on I got further hooked into Goldin's writing and the way she pieced together the multiple timelines of the rape trial, what happened in the case, and the cold case she's looking into on the side.

I wound up really liking The Night Swim in the end. I give you strong warnings going into this. The rape victims are teenagers and there's a lot of narrative surrounding women, sexual assault, and our legal system.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★
4/5 stars

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Catherine House is horror/thriller novel by Elisabeth Thomas.

A story about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year’s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.

For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House’s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby’s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.

Catherine House was recently chosen as a group read in the Ladies of Horror Fiction Goodreads group. I didn't manage to read it during the chosen month so I'm doing a little catch up now!

I listened to Catherine House on audio, and the narration was excellent. The narrator made this book so easy to follow despite how vague the story was. I loved the atmosphere, and I loved the school setting.

Overall, though, Catherine House didn't work very well for me. I feel like this year has been filled with ambiguous entertainment, and I am more than craving some straight forward stories right now. I think Catherine House will work best for those who like to read deeper and find the artistic meaning behind what is and isn't said.

⭐⭐★★★
2/5 stars

Book Review | Follow Me by Kathleen Barber

Follow Me is a new thriller from Kathleen Barber.

From the author of Are You Sleeping—soon to be an Apple TV series—comes a cautionary tale of oversharing in the social media age for fans of Jessica Knoll and Caroline Kepnes’s You.

Everyone wants new followers…until they follow you home.

Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor with the help of the only two people she knows in town: an ex-boyfriend she can’t stay away from and a sorority sister with a high-powered job and a mysterious past.

But Audrey’s faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years—from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits—and nothing is private.

Kathleen Barber’s electrifying new thriller will have you scrambling to cover your webcam and digital footprints.

Follow Me includes an introduction by the author regarding cyber stalking. The thought of someone watching you through your computer is terrifying. Kathleen Barber set the stage for what kind of stalking can take place in the digital age. Cover your webcams, folks.

The main character in Follow Me is a famous Instagrammer with over 1 million followers. As far as I can tell, Audrey is famous for just being on Instagram. What she does and what she posts sounds pretty average to me, but in the world of Follow Me, she's Instagram famous.

In the beginning of Follow Me, Audrey moves to Washington, DC to take a museum job as the social media manager. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, and her internet stalker all live in DC so that makes for a hot bed of conflict for Audrey.

The chapters are told through the alternating viewpoints of Audrey, her best friend Cat, and her stalker "Him". I really liked this setup and change of perspective. It kept the pace moving, and since everyone had secrets from Audrey, I enjoyed all of the perspectives.

Unfortunately, I had trouble believing most of Follow Me. Why was Audrey *that* famous? Why was every man *that* obsessed with her? How did the personality traits of "him" even co-exist in the same person?

That being said, I enjoyed the writing, and I enjoyed reading Follow Me. I have a copy of Barber's Truth Be Told, and I'm looking forward to picking that one up next.

⭐⭐⭐★★

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Book Review | The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters

The Dead Girls Club is a coming of age horror/thriller mashup from Damien Angelica Walters.

A supernatural thriller in the vein of A Head Full of Ghosts about two young girls, a scary story that becomes far too real, and the tragic--and terrifying--consequences that follow one of them into adulthood.

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

The night Heather killed her.

Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.

The Dead Girls Club is told through dual timelines, and I think it works really well.

One timeline is set back in the 80s when the Dead Girls Club would get together and tell scary stories and do spooky stuff. It reminded me a lot of my spooky childhood when my friends and I were obsessed dark shit. Those were the days, and I loved reliving some of that through reading The Dead Girls Club. This timeline was my favorite, and it read like a dark Goosebumps novel.

The other timeline was the "now" which read more like an adult thriller. It was fun to have that mix working in the same novel, and I think Damien Angelica Walters did a great job with it.

If you need a recommendation for Women in Horror Month, I think The Dead Girls Club would be the perfect choice.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

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Book Review | The Chill by Scott Carson

The Chill is a thriller by Scott Carson (aka Michael Kortya).

In this terrifying thriller, a supernatural force—set in motion a century ago—threatens to devastate New York City.

Far upstate, in New York’s ancient forests, a drowned village lays beneath the dark, still waters of the Chilewaukee reservoir. Early in the 20th century, the town was destroyed for the greater good: bringing water to the millions living downstate. Or at least that’s what the politicians from Manhattan insisted at the time. The local families, settled there since America’s founding, were forced from their land, but they didn’t move far, and some didn’t move at all…

Now, a century later, the repercussions of human arrogance are finally making themselves known. An inspector assigned to oversee the dam, dangerously neglected for decades, witnesses something inexplicable. It turns out that more than the village was left behind in the waters of the Chill when it was abandoned. The townspeople didn’t evacuate without a fight. A dark prophecy remained, too, and the time has come for it to be fulfilled. Those who remember must ask themselves: who will be next? For sacrifices must be made. And as the dark waters begin to inexorably rise, the demand for a fresh sacrifice emerges from the deep...

The beginning of The Chill had a wonderfully dark and creepy tone. It was awesome, and I was excited for the ride I was about to take.

Unfortunately, the first 20% turned out to be more of a hook instead of a promise. The Chill got bogged down in information and turned into an entirely different book.

The reviews have been great for The Chill so I think most people will be able go along with the turns and changes, but I am terrible with broken promises. The Chill weighs in at 450 pages. Combine that with the struggle of the story not matching what I expected it to be, and it just turned into a tough read for me.

⭐⭐★★★

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | Bitter Falls by Rachel Caine

Bitter Falls is the fourth book in the Stillhouse Lake series by Rachel Caine.

She’s investigating a cold case no one else could—by going places no else would dare.

In spite of a harrowing past still haunting her, Gwen Proctor is trying to move forward. Until a new assignment gives her purpose: the cold-case disappearance of a young man in Tennessee. Three years missing, no clues. Just Ruth Landry, a tortured mother in limbo. Gwen understands what it’s like to worry about your children.

Gwen’s investigation unearths new suspects…and victims. As she follows each sinister lead, the implications of the mystery grow more disturbing. Because the closer Gwen gets, the closer she is to a threat that looms back home.

In a town that’s closed its ranks against Gwen; her partner, Sam; and her kids, there’s no bolder enemy than the Belldene family—paramilitary, criminal, powerful, and vengeful. As personal vendettas collide with Gwen’s investigation, she’s prepared to fight both battles. But is she prepared for the toll it could take on everyone she loves?

I just love the Stillhouse Lake series. In the last book, I was excited to see the direction the series was taking because it meant we could have a lot more books in this series. I mistakenly assumed the series going forward would take the safe route and become more about Gwen Proctor's new life and less about Gina Royal's old life. I'm so glad I was wrong! There is still so much of the original plot and family dynamic happening, and I'm so happy.

If you've read Stillhouse Lake, so much of what I loved about that first book can be found in Bitter Falls as well. It's really a return to the roots of this series while still progressing the family where they are now.

If you haven't read Stillhouse Lake, well... I recommend you get on that some day. I really look forward to each book in this series. Things are not easy for this family, and I'm assuming things are about to get rough all over again in the next one. I'll be there!

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Review copy provided by the author

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