Book Review: Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
The thing about being bitten by the "Suspense Bug" is that you tend to go off course from your normal reading. In my case, I had several books planned for me to read. But one toe dipped in the lake of crime novels, and I found myself swimming, in over my head. Ironically after feeling this way, I travel south to investigate a new mystery on Stillhouse Lake.
Stillhouse Lake is written by Rachel Caine, and is published by Thomas and Mercer Publishers, an Amazon.com imprint. In it, we are introduced to Gina Royal, a suburban housewife in Kansas that would never hurt a fly. Her family is her everything. Her husband, Mel, asks her never to go into the garage after he makes it into a workshop, of course, she does not enter. Then one day Gina returns to her neighborhood and discovers that her home has become a crime scene. A drunk driver with an SUV has plowed into her home, knocking into part of the garage. In her vehicle with her children at the time, Gina is stopped by police and arrested. Gina does not realize that her husband was actually a serial killer, and his "workshop" was the torture chamber he had created for his numerous victims.
Flash forward four years and we find that Gina is now Gwen Proctor. Her children have also taken new names and are now Atlanta, fourteen, and Connor, eleven. They have relocated further south to Tennessee where they share a home in an old gated community on Stillhouse Lake. Long after the trial ended with her exhortation and her husband's incarceration, Gwen is on the run from Melvin’s internet followers who wish to do them harm. Having taken to learning self-defense and taking gun courses, Gwen is always planning for the day that either Mel or his crazy followers find her and her children. After some time life is good in their location and she may not feel completely safe, but at least she has found a home that she can call her own.
Atlanta is constantly acting out; having been old enough to understand what was going on with her father. She is growing tired of being in isolation and wishes more freedom. But in a pinch, she is at the ready to aid in the defense of her mother and brother. Connor is kept to himself, only having a fraction of the truth as to what happened to his father. He knows that his mother uses her encrypted computer to survey the internet for dangerous internet trolls who wish them harm. He is willing to follow her orders, which helps Gwen, who sees the damage she is causing them by constantly running and changing names. Gwen wants a better life for her kids.
As their lives begin to show some semblance of order, a body is found in the lake outside of their home. Soon the police are on Gwen's doorstep, and her family is drawn into the investigation. The woman who was killed was dropped in the lake, weighted down...just like Melvin's victims. To make matters worse Gwen's real identity becomes public knowledge, sending the small Tennessee town into a frenzy. Death threats, vandalism, and a chilling message from Mel arrive in the aftermath as another woman is found dead in the lake outside of Gwen's house. Now it is a desperate attempt for Gwen to weed out those who wish her family harm from those who truly wish to help. No one can be trusted, leaving the questions: Has Melvin found her? Did one of his followers pick up killing in his name? Or has Mel escaped from custody to make Gwen is his latest victim?
Stillhouse Lake is a tension-filled escape into the mind of a maniac, and a woman who will stop at nothing to protect her children. Rachel Caine has crafted a taut thriller that had me on edge trying to fit the pieces together. Her sharp and atmospheric writing shadows her characters in a dim and often terrifying light. I never felt that Gwen or any of the characters were safe from Melvin Royal and his influence. This all built up to a very satisfying ending to this novel, while setting the stage for the next book in the series.
Rachel Caine has begun what looks to be an excellent trilogy that I look forward to reading. I gave Stillhouse Lake four out of five stars.
Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.
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