Book Stats
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Length: 9 hour 10 minutes
Chapters: 45
Narrator POV: First person narration; all from the main female character’s POV
Summary (No spoilers)
If you’d like to read the full summary and review with *spoilers included*, check out this post instead!
A newly married couple, Eddie and April, are on their way to their honeymoon destination. They make a wrong turn onto a country road, where they come across a hitchhiker. Upon noticing it’s a young girl, they stop to offer help, seeing that she’s injured. They rush to a nearby hospital, but the girl dies from her wounds.
Eddie and April end up as suspects in the girl’s death and are soon thrown into an investigation revolving around several murders that have taken place along that same road where they found the hitchhiker, spanning several decades.
The couple embarks on their own investigation, leading them toward many interesting town residents and involving the local ghost story about the Lost Girl, who was the first one killed and now is said to haunt the road. According to the story, if you see the Lost Girl, you’re the next one to die.
Review
This is my 3rd book by Simone St. James and I just adore her writing. I love that all of her mysteries are quick, easy reads with interesting supernatural aspects. The supernatural events add additional mystery to the plot, bringing with it extra suspense and unexpected twists.
I also really enjoyed many of the side characters in this story. Rose and the Snell sisters, particularly. They were fun additions.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a phenomenal job. All the voices were done by Brittany Pressley, but she was wonderful and made it easy to know which character was speaking. I was impressed and felt that added more to the story for me as a listener.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the constant re-hashing of April and Eddie’s pasts. We get it, there were issues, but I would’ve preferred to focus more on what was happening in the present. Some aspects even felt like they were thrown in just for the woe-is-me effect, such as April looking at the joint account she shared with her mom and calling about the money that had been withdrawn. I understand this gave the officers a phone record they could use to piece her past together, but it didn’t really add to the story at all, in my opinion.
Despite that, I loved that the story kept moving forward. Things happened quickly and consistently, rather than dragging on. All-in-all, I thought this was a very enjoyable read.
Review
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Spice Rating: 🌶️️/5
Reason for the ratings:
This story is thrilling and mysterious. I love the supernatural aspects and feel like it really adds a lot to the story. I enjoyed the investigation and exploring the town’s urban legends, as well as the interactions with the side characters. This book is a quick and easy read and the narrator for the audiobook did a great job.
I gave 1 chili pepper, per our rating system, as there was brief mention of sexual contact a couple times. They’re very vague mentions, typically April thinking about what she expected their honeymoon would be like, versus how it was actually going. April also kissed her husband’s neck/ behind his ear and suggested pulling over for a backseat rendezvous, to which Eddie said no. There are a couple vague, nondescriptive mentions of sexual encounters between the characters.
This book really isn’t spicy and focuses on the mystery, but due to the vague mentions and on-page kissing, I have given 1 chili pepper.
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