Stillhouse Lake

Stillhouse Lake, Book 1

By: Rachel Caine

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith

An Amazon Charts and USA Today bestseller.

Gina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.

With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.

But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.

©2017 Rachel Caine LLC (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Critic reviews

A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, Mystery & Thriller

"In this rapid-fire thriller...Caine spins a powerful story of maternal love and individual self-realization."—Publishers Weekly

"Stillhouse Lake is a true nail-biter right up to the end."—Fresh Fiction

Cliffhanger

I was not aware that this book is number one of a series. This book ends on a bit of a Cliffhanger.
I wish that was clearly stated when I purchased it. Otherwise, it was a good book & I finished it in a day & a half.

Hard To Put Down

No doubt about it, Rachel Caine is a fantastic writer. Her characters are well-developed and the descriptions she uses are detailed enough, but not so overly detailed that you feel like dosing off, like so many authors today. I, somewhat reluctantly, chose this as my Kindle first selection for June. I thought this would be an ordinary, run-of-the-mill thriller and I've read so many of those that it takes a lot to impress me. This one definitely did!

The main critique of this book from other readers is this is a thriller with a cliffhanger at the end. I would argue otherwise. In addition to being a thriller, this book is a "who-dunnit" too. The who-dunnit part is resolved at the end of the book--I won't describe that here, as I don't want to include spoilers. I definitely think this book can be read alone without reading any follow-ups in the series, as the person(s) who were going after Gwen and her family are revealed at the end of the book.To each his own, I suppose, but I think this book is fine as a stand-alone.

Why did I give it four stars instead of five? Like I said earlier, I've read a lot of thrillers, so I'm pretty astute and figuring out the antagonist fairly early in the story and that was the case for me with Stillhouse Lake. That is the one and only reason why it was not a five star book for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to the second book due to come out at the end of 2017.




Emily Sutton-Smith was truly outstanding with the delivery of the story

Loved it !!

What did you love best about Stillhouse Lake?

fast paced - surprising twists

What was one of the most memorable moments of Stillhouse Lake?

there were many

What about Emily Sutton-Smith’s performance did you like?

just very well done

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no - I never listen all in one sitting, unless I'm travelling - then yes.

Any additional comments?

Great book - highly recommend

Enjoyed it

This book was a well written mystery. My only disappointment was that I figured it out. However, it was intriguing, non-smutty, and spellbinding. I definitely recommend it for those who enjoy a good mystery.

Loved it!

This was the first book by Rachel Cainr I've read. It kept me interested from cover to cover and was difficult to put down. Can't wait to start the second book in the series.