The crisp fall air and changing leaves make me look for chilling, creepy reads. These two couldn’t be more perfect for my mood.
Twenty years ago the town of a serial killer in the town of Featherbank abducted four children and kept their corpses stored in his spare room. Two decades later, the killer is still in prison, but someone new has begun kidnapping children. Detective Pete Willis, racked with guilt for failing to save the children years ago, vows to find the perpetrator this time. Meanwhile, newly widowed Tom Kennedy has just moved to town with his son, Jake, who is traumatized by the recent death of his mother. When Jake begins talking to imaginary friends and hearing whispers at the door, Tom doesn’t know where to turn to help his child. The characters stories intertwine in unexpected ways, a new and haunting twist around every corner. A delightfully creepy read, this is a perfect book to read on a chilly autumn night. But make sure to leave the lights on!
The vibe of this novel is deliciously atmospheric and the three intertwined story lines are all equally scary and unexpected. The story starts in the early twentieth century in West Hall, Vermont with Sarah Harrison Shea. After her young daughter goes missing, Sarah slowly loses touch with reality, and the reader journeys with her to figure out who killed young Gertie and why.
The two other story lines happen in present day and alternate with Sarah’s. Nineteen year old Ruthie comes home late one night to find her mother missing. Ruthie knows her loving mother would never leave the alone, so she makes it her mission to find her mother at all costs. Meanwhile, Katherine is grieving the accidental death of her husband Gary. Desperate to figure out what really happened to him, she becomes an amateur sleuth in order to solve the baffling puzzle. Why would he claim to be going to photograph a wedding in Massachusetts and end up dead on winding road in Vermont?
McMahon does an amazing job using the winter landscape to create a chilling atmosphere on every page. Each of the stories is compelling and fascinating and I couldn’t wait to see how they would all tie together at the end.