Reef Road

A Novel

By: Deborah Goodrich Royce

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

When a severed hand washes ashore in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach, Florida, the lives of two women—a lonely writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother’s best friend and a panicked wife whose husband has disappeared with their children—collide as the world shutters in the pandemic lockdown of 2020.

A young woman’s life seems perfect until her family goes missing. A writer lives alone with her dog and collects arcane murder statistics. What each of them stands to lose as they sneak around the do-not-enter tape blocking Reef Road beach is exposed by the steady tightening of the cincture encircling them.

In a nod to the true crime that inspired it, Deborah Goodrich Royce’s Reef Road probes unhealed generational scars in a wrenching and original work of fiction. It is both stunning and sexy and, like a bystander surprised by a curtain left open, you won’t be able to look away.

©2023 Deborah Goodrich Royce (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Noir-ish fiction inspired by a true crime

Saskia Maareleveld delivers a delicious reading of the dark doings in Palm Beach as the pandemic lockdown closes in two women—The Writer and The Wife—each intent on her own hidden purpose no matter the cost.

Weird

This was a strange story. I liked the way the story unfolded, but I really could not buy the basic premise.

Better than Mrs. Ford

Finding Mrs. Ford was flawed, but held my interest. This one is one of the best suspense titles I've listened to in a long time.

Absolutely Worth a Credit!

4.75 stars for Reef Road, by Deborah Goodrich Royce, my surprise favorite book of the year so far! I bought this book months ago and waited to read as I was not sure the pandemic setting was something I could do, but it totally worked for this book! You can read the synopsis on the book jacket, but it's basically the story of a true crime writer and a Palm Beach housewife and how their lives intersect in a very cataclysmic way. I would suggest anyone even mildly interested in this book- read as little as you can about it. There are some BIG reveals and twists that made it such a unique and fun ride! The pandemic setting worked with the story and was not in your face or overdone at all. Maybe Covid has just been around for so long now we are all a little less traumatized by it but I didn't find the references triggering at all. In fact, I thought the quarantine and other elements of the pandemic were brilliantly used to the author's advantage in this story. I heard mention of some two star reviews on Goodreads and do not get that at all. If anything, I set the bar for mystery/suspense really high and this book was such a unique take on the true crime trope. I found it very clever and compelling. I highly recommend it. It is by far the best book I've read in 2023!

Reef road

Grabs you from the very beginning Could not stop listening. Love this author. Hope she has more

Fun, twisty, easy read--great for summer or planes

Very entertaining and distracting from the "real" world. Good characters, good plot. Nicely written. Enjoyed it thoroughly!

Worth the Listen

It was when the connection was finally made between the writer and the wife that this book really took off!

Not what I was expecting

The story kept my attention. It had the perfect amount of mystery and enough information to come to your own conclusions yet not be 100% sure.
The 2 topics, bulimia and rape, which people seem to take offense to will not be a trigger for everyone.
The bulimia in this story was to create an image/character of the wife. It was not the center of the story. Mentioned maybe a few times more than necessary, perhaps.
As for the rape, it is part of the story. If rape is a trigger and you read the reviews, read at your own risk. Without giving anything away all I will say is every action has a reaction.....

Loved this book

I loved the back and forth of this book set during the pandemic. I could picture all the events during lock down.

The reader was great, the book was dreadful.

Far fetched and just ridiculous! The reader was the strongest part of this experience. The story certainly didn’t save it.