Stillhouse Lake by Rachel CaineMy rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 of 5 stars)
You should read this book if : You're looking for an unpretentious guilty-pleasure page-turner with a generally likeable lead character.
Why you should not read this book: If murder isn't your thing, or you're looking for mindblowing insights about life.
Review
Stillhouse Lake surprised me. On one hand, other than the interesting premise of an innocent wife of a serial killer, there isn't much else that's novel about the book. Guns galore, paranoia, sketchy men - it's all been done before...but Stillhouse Lake does it really well. In particular, the main character in these on-the-run books are often unbearably irritating, making mind-blowingly idiotic decisions while constantly dripping in self-pity, causing me to root against them. In contrast, despite her understandable paranoia, I found myself quite invested in Gina and her kids. In addition to the immediate threat of being discovered, the developments in the kids and family dynamics was emotion and empathy-rousing.
I particularly enjoyed the whodunit nature of the interactions with the other distinctive, interesting characters. Possibly heightened due to having recently read "The Body Keeps the Score" and "What's a Girl Worth", the author successfully embedded a deep distrust of the all the men in the book. Who is safe and who isn't? Are all the men bad, or are there any good guys?
Discovering upon completion that this book is actually the first in a series was actually disappointing. I enjoyed the book a lot, but am not ready to sign up for 4 more books (how much progression could there really be?). That said, this book is still very readable as a stand-alone book.
Because it engrossed me and turning those pages late into the night, it's hard to rate this book anything under 5 stars.
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