Stillhouse Lake Series #1
By: Rachel Caine
ISBN: 978-1477848661
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: 7/1/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 5 Stars An Amazon Charts most-read book. 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.
My Review
WOW! STILLHOUSE LAKE by Rachel Caine is A riveting heart-pounding psychological thriller . . . My first book by the author and anxiously awaiting #2! What an incredible writer - an addictive, deliciously evil new series. I can see this playing out on Amazon Video.
Meet Gina Royal from Wichita, Kansas.
Gina never asked about the garage. That thought would keep her awake every night for years. “I should have asked. Should have known. But she had never asked. She didn’t know. In the end, that was what destroyed her.
Her husband, Mel was charming. Their children Brady and Lily. That day, her husband called with an emergency. She needed to pick up the kids. Mel loved their family life. His second-favorite thing: wood-working in his shop. More than wood-working going down in the garage.
“Normal life. Comfortable life. Not perfect, of course. Nobody had a perfect marriage, did they. But Gina was satisfied at least most of the time.”
However, that day when she arrived home there were police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck. Their mailbox. Their lawn. Their house.
An SUV had crashed into their garage. (Mel’s workshop). Before she knew what was happening Detective Salazar was arresting her.
They were victims. Someone had crashed into their home. Why were the cops mistreating her in front of her own children? This had to be a mistake. Embarassing. The neighbors were taking videos. They would be uploaded to the internet.
Handcuffs. This could not be happening. She could not understand why someone was driving drunk and now she is being arrested.
The garage. The cops wondered if she knew about the garage. She does not park in the garage. Her husband was going to be upset.
However, the detective wants her to explain the life-size naked doll hanging from a hook in the center of the garage. Except, it was not a doll. It was real.
The day her life changed forever. Her husband was a serial killer.
Fast forward four years later.
Gwen Proctor and her children are living at Stillhouse Lake in Tennessee. Since leaving Wichita, they have changed their identity four times. The weak creature she had left behind. One who had aided and abetted; however, unconsciously. That woman is long dead and she does not mourn her.
Her kids are now Connor and Atlanta (Lanny for short). She has tried to keep them safe from predators and all the hate mail. Their father was a monster. The “good” father with a mask.
If it had not been for the drunk driver, their lives would have gone on the same. It was her fault his true depth of evil had been finally unmasked. He had taken out a storage locker in the name of her long-dead brother. The journal. Each victim had a section.
From abduction, torture, murder. The man will kill again.
There had been a trial. All the women. Mel had infected her like a virus. Then there was the hacker which goes by the name of Absalom. But he helped with the false identities. Finding them safe havens. He controls the online harassment. Strictly business. She pays him.
Ugly, cruel things about her and her children online. Like they had known was a monster Mel was. She keeps a gun. She will not let anyone hurt her kids or her ever again. Alarms, computers, security systems, burner phones. Their lives are spent looking over their shoulders. She is committed to their survival.
Absalom communicates with them (computer guy). Her husband writes letters. There is a mailing address elsewhere. How does he know where she is?
He writes from prison. He describes what he will do to her if given the chance. He’s inventive. Descriptive. Repellently direct. Mel is a contagious, fatal disease.
People think she is guilty. His hobby. The garage. Little did she know what he was doing in the garage and what he was hiding. She knew he used bleach, but it was always a logical reason. She had believed every word.
Then there is a murder at Stillhouse Lake.
The rustic retreat. Upper middle-class families. Second homes. A woman weighed down. The description sounds familiar to Mel’s victims. Does it have anything to do with Mel’s crimes? Murder practically at her front door?
She owes her children a stable upbringing and safety. From trading cars to houses, always on the move.
Mel had liked his stupid games. “Breath Play.” Cords around her neck. She hated it. She had seen something dark. She had refused. He had never choked her hard enough to pass out, but close. Little did she know while he was starving her for oxygen during sex, he was imagining his women in the garage, fighting the noose as he raised and lowered them off the ground.
He was using her to play out his murders. Chilling and sickening.
Now she had to protect her family with more than a gun. Mentally, emotionally, and logically. She cannot trust anyone. She must break the trail.
Sam Cade. He is new to town. He is supposed to do some work on the house. They both have secrets.
She has money that was Mel’s escape money. The inheritance from his parents’ estate; in the storage shed. It had been a year before she was acquitted. She had spent it on their safety, shelter and identities before Stillhouse Lake. For their new life.
Slowly she learns to trust Sam Cade and her son likes him. Even Lanny (with her goth and edge). Her son wants to be an architect so he and Sam hit it off. She wants to fall for this guy, but she is cautious. However, does he have a hidden agenda?
Gina has a mailing service. Mel writes her. He has seen her and Sam at the lake house. How is this possible?
She must go to the prison and confront the monster.
From Javier, Sam, Absalom, Lance Graham, Detective Prester— who can she trust? Enemy or ally?
“Mel is worse than a monster. He’s a smart monster. Mel disposed women in the water. Now, one trusts her.
Another dead girl found floating in the lake.
People are learning about her past. She will be arrested and she will lose her kids. Her murdering ex-husband. Who is doing this? Who else is keeping secrets? Does Gwen (Gina) have a stalker?Has she fallen for a serial killer twice?
Now there are horrible words on their windows. A life she cannot escape. She has to fix it. But how. The safe room. Threats. Has Mel broken out of death row and someone made his way to Stillhouse Lake without a soul seeing him?
Someone has her kids. . . She needs help, but who can she trust?
The suspense is riveting! Nerve-racking, heart-pounding! Does Mel have followers? (Mel reminds me of Joe Carroll - The Following - when watching I have to keep one eye closed)
Highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith (Narrator) for an outstanding and entertaining performance. I purchased the book and audio version.
I can see why STILLHOUSE LAKE has received rave reviews and included in the Goodreads Opening Round of Best Mystery and Thriller as well as climbing the Amazon charts.
So excited to receive an ARC of #2 Stillhouse Lake, Killman Creek (currently reading), coming Dec 12, 2017. For fans of psychological thrillers—compelling, well-written, and twisty plots. Love the covers and titles..
With #2, we catch up with Gwen. Mel has escaped from prison with the warning: “You’re not safe anywhere now.”
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Advance Praise
“In this rapid-fire thriller…Caine spins a powerful story of maternal love and individual self-realization.” –Publishers Weekly
“Amazing.” —Night Owl Reviews, Top Pick
Hooked on page one, swept away by the urgency of the voice and the depth of the characters, caught in the irresistible riptide of suspense … this is a cancel-your-plans-and-stay-in-and-read-all-day thrill ride, a truly stellar novel — Lisa Unger NYT bestselling author of THE RED HUNTER
Highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith @esuttonsmith for an outstanding and highly entertaining performance!
KILLMAN CREEK
Stillhouse Lake Series #2 By: Rachel Caine ISBN: 1542046416 Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Publication Date: 12/12/2017 Format: Hardcover My Rating: Currently Reading
Every time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.
Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text… Read More
About the Author
Rachel Caine's rich, diverse bibliography of more than 50 books in print covers many categories and genres. She started out writing horror and fantasy as Roxanne Longstreet (Stormriders, The Undead, Red Angel, Cold Kiss, Slow Burn) before switching to the name Roxanne Conrad and publishing romantic suspense and mystery (Copper Moon, Bridge of Shadows, Exile). By 2003, she began to publish under her current pseudonym, specializing in urban fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal young adult fiction.
She has been writing original fiction since the age of fourteen, and professionally published since 1991. She graduated from Socorro High School in El Paso Texas (where she was a UIL all-state champion in music and journalism) and went on to earn an accounting degree from Texas Tech University. She played professionally as a musician for several years once out of college, but ultimately gave up the music for writing.
She's had a varied "day job" career, including web design, graphic arts, accounting, payroll management, insurance investigation, and (most recently) corporate communications and crisis management. (It all counts as research.)
Rachel loves reading, writing, and mild amounts of arithmetic when required ... but she has a special place in her heart for history, music, and science, and you'll find those themes in many of her works. Read More
