Murder Road

by Simone St. James

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

• ISBN10: 0593200381
• ISBN13: 9780593200384
• Publish Date: 5 March 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593200384

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Summary:

April and Eddie are newlyweds – so new that they're traveling to celebrate their honeymoon. Unfortunately, they got a bit lost along the way and accidentally wandered into a crime scene of sorts. At first, they were just seeing a hitchhiker, but it quickly became apparent that something much worse was going on.

Now, the two are embroiled in a town mystery, one that is decades old and includes several dead hitchhikers. Will they be the prime suspects in this weird set of circumstances, or will they find the truth and set everyone free?

Review:

I love how Simone St. James weaves paranormal and thriller elements into one cohesive story. That said, I'll be the first to admit that this writing style is not everyone's cup of tea. But personally, I really enjoyed everything that Murder Road had to offer.

A lot is going on within these pages. We have an unreliable narrator (we know that we can't trust everything April is telling us; we just don't know why), missing persons, dead kids, strange cops, and, of course, a ghost story. It's a heady mix.

I enjoyed the ghost elements. Given that I love fantasy and horror, that's no surprise. It's the right balance, with enough intrigue to keep most readers invested. As for the ending, it partially felt like I should have seen it coming (maybe I did, in the back of my head). I think that means it was well written because it made sense in that twisted sort of way.

This is the third paranormal thriller I've read by Simone St. James, and it hit just as hard as the rest. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Highlights:
Paranormal Thriller
Horror Elements
Secrets Everywhere
Hitchhiker's Ghost Vibes

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