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4.5 stars

“There are more things in heaven and earth [Horatio]
Than are dreamt in your philosophy��. This quote from Hamlet perfectly sums up the book.

July 1995. Wow. That’s how you start a novel, foot on the gas, 0-100 mph immediately. Eddie and April Carter are on their way to their honeymoon motel when he takes the wrong exit from the interstate. It’s dark, so dark, but then the headlights pick out a walker at the side of the road, they slow down and soon realise that something is very wrong. This is Rhonda Jean, she’s badly hurt, they persuade her to get into their car and set off for Coldlake Falls, Michigan, perilously pursued by a truck. When Rhonda dies, the couple are cast as a suspects and furthermore, it transpires that the road they pick her up on is Atticus Line, and Rhoda isn’t the first murder on that road, not by a long chalk. This is the Murder Road. What follows is certainly not the honeymoon that April hopes for as she narrates the mysterious and atmospheric tale.

Oh my days. To say there is tension in the air from the start is an understatement. From the get go, I have so many questions in my head and I love books like that. First of all, there’s an air of mystery attached to April. Who is she? Where is she from? She becomes increasingly disconnected and uncertain about why they ended up on THAT road. Why did Eddie take that particular turning ? There seems no rational explanation. What does he have to say about it?? What’s his story too? The characterisation of the couple is excellent and then there are the strange characters in Coldlake Falls in particular, Detectives Quentin and Beam. They appear on the spot very rapidly and that seems odd. They then seem to be playing an unpredictable game of cat and mouse with the couple and you feel their confusion. Then we have to consider their strange landlady, Rose, at the B and B the detectives insist they stay at. After an unpromising start, Rose thaws and begins to help them especially about the Murder Road and the ghostly legends of the Lost Girl. “If you see her you’ll be next ��. This part of the storytelling is fantastic and riveting.

This well written novel is chock full of moments of fear, of mounting dread, its sinister, eerie, spooky and downright creepy at times with some fantastic imagery so you can picture scenes vividly. There are moments when there is tangible menace, your nerves jangle and chills go up and down the spine. Some scenes are so suspenseful with tension that is so taut I realise I’ve held my breath. When the truth comes, well now, that’s a stranger thing though perhaps the ending could have packed more of a punch since what precedes it sure does.

Overall, it’s chilling and gripping and at times a horrifying supernatural tale and a definite page turner. The 90’s timescale perfectly fits and the context is excellent. At times it put me in mind of “Don’t look now�� �� and that still creeps me out all these years later!! This is a novel that will stick in the mind.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.