Welcome to my review of Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine!
Summary
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.
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review
If you’re looking for a quick recommendation, no, I would not recommend this book.
This is one of those books that I go back and forth on recommending. I liked the idea of it, it all sounded exciting and mysterious. But the more I read, the more frustrated I became with the main character. It just felt cheesy. Gwen is one of those people for whom everything is a threat. She is the Terminator as a mom. She is always “on” and ready for a fight. She never rests and she never admits defeat. It’s just constant. To the point where she no longer feels like a human being. She’s a robot. And therefore, unrelatable. What’s funny though, is that I think her kids can sense it, and they are also annoyed.
I gave it three stars because I still enjoyed the mystery aspect. It’s always kind of exciting trying to figure out whodunnit. And the other characters besides Gwen are interesting. Although I don’t think any of the characters were relatable or deep. The writing was also very simple. Usually simple writing is great for a mystery because it helps the reader stick to the facts without anything else distracting the reader. But in this case, I felt I needed something other than just the mystery to add to my experience with this book.
Overall, I would not recommend this book to a busy mom, or anyone else. It wasn’t that great, and there are plenty of other, better mystery books out there that I would recommend over this one.
Rating
Three out of five stars
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If you’d like to check out a more positive review than my review of Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine, I’d recommend Final Girls by Riley Sager.
If you’re interested in purchasing Stillhouse Lake, here are some quick links to buy the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. And, if you’re interested to see what others think, here’s the link to the book on Goodreads.
