simone st. james – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Thriller
Length: 352 pages
Author: Simone St. James
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect–a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.

Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases–a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea’s surprise, Beth says yes.

They meet regularly at Beth’s mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she’s not looking, and she could swear she’s seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn’t right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?

A true crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel.

GREAT AUDIOBOOK.

I love a cast in an audio read and this hit the mark for me. I flew through it in that regard because I can’t get enough when the narration is on point.

Story wise, the first half was GREAT. I was perfectly spooked (because I like my thrillers on the mild side of scary). Very much intrigued by what was happening and how these two women’s stories were going to collide.

Buuuut, maybe I just have an issue with ghosts in books? I don’t know. When the ghost came out to play I found myself more detached from the novel. Or it could be that the second half was super predictable so it draaaagged a lot. This combination led to my disenchantment by the end.

I liked the extremely subtle romance and the back story behind the main character. This actually wove into the rest of the plot well as to why Shea was making certain decisions.

While a bit of miss for me, it was still a good read.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller
Language: a little
Romance: kisses
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: murder (with graphic descriptions), child sexual abuse, alcoholism, miscarriage mentioned, gun violence

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller / Mystery
Length: 327 pages
Author: Simone St. James
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 18th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

DEFINITELY CREEPY.

Another thriller that I immensely enjoyed. Even as my Husband asked multiple times in the last 50 pages if I was okay. I was that enthralled and NEEDED TO KNOW.

What creeped me out most about this book was that relevance of it all. How easily this can and does happen to women. It was freaky to think of being watched, of being chose “just because” and disappearing without a trace.

The alternating story lines worked really well. I occasionally found them repetitive of each other, but overall, they kept the story moving. I was equally interested in both stories and thought they connected at the right time to tell the newest timeline.

I’m usually not into ghost stories, but this worked so well!! I was spooked by them, but they also played their own part. They definitely added to the ambiance and vibes of the whole book and gave me the heebie-jeebies multiple times. Remind me to never work at a run down motel in a small town. NOPE. That ending with all of the information rolling out was like WHOA. I loved finding out who was all included in what really happened in 1982.

Generally, thrillers slow down to where I feel like I need to just skim and get it over with. I never felt that way here. I found it easy to want to keep reading and the pages really flew by. An all out great thriller for it being a lesser read genre for me.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller / Mystery
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses
Violence: murder, physical altercations
Trigger warnings: mentions of rape victims (no full scenes), harassment, kidnapping, stalking