This was one of my fastest one-session reads, and I adored it. I recommend it to anyone who loved Robert Jackson Bennett's AMERICAN ELSEWHERE , Jack Finney's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, or Ira Levin's THE STEPFORD WIVES, all of which peeled the veneer from Suburbia. THE RIDGE rocks, with utmost tension, suspense, fear--and yes, Conspiracy Theorists will devour it.


Welcome to Willow Ridge, home of The Institute. You'll soon be singing the lyrics to "Hotel California."

A nice thriller that had sci-fi moments i did not expect or enjoy overly much in my books, so it was not the best book for me personally.
But overall it was nice writing and good plot and is a decent read that if you are interested in, you should give a try!

Great suspenseful book. Kept me reading into the night!

If you liked Stepford Wives you will love this book. I did.

Tyler and Megan have moved to the Ridge for a career change. Beautiful houses and quiet tree-lined streets give the appearance of an idyllic place to live.

However, after Megan is involved in an unfortunate incident, she realises all is not as it seems. Lies and deceit follow. Can Megan trust anyone?

Although this book has a far from original story it was so atmospheric and beautifully written that it does not matter. The main characters are all brilliant and Megan comes across as a wounded but strong woman.

I enjoyed the fact that, as in real life, Megan did not do stupid things. She keeps her mouth shut and trusts no one which is always a good idea but rarely seen in books or movies.
There is a twist at the end which I did not see coming, I will not spoil it but suffice to say that not all that is strange is bad.

Helen

Breakaway Reviewers receive a copy of the book to review.

Thank you for allowing me to read this early release so I can review. This book was worth the time just needed a bit more "something" to make it stand out

Sometimes crazy is easier.

A mixture of Stepford Wives and the Giver series. Erie and it is not as it seems. Megan and her husband Tyler have moved from Chicago to a community that Tyler's place of employment houses their employees known as the Ridge. Megan has not adjusted to the move and her neighbors seem friendly but distant. When a confrontation with her neighbor Rachel ends with a terrible accident, the tension of the plot thickens. Rachel feels more isolated and not sure of what she believes. Her husband seems to think that she is going crazy but is she?

She turns to another neighbor for support and the tension mounts as a reader because at this point you don't trust anybody. There is a twist to this sci-fi thriller that brought it all together when I didn't know what to think. At some point, I became frustrated with the plot and the characters but you are not left hanging. What you are left with is a why and for the curious, leaves you with some satisfaction.

A Special Thank You to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

If somewhere sounds just too perfect, too good to be true, then it probably is - pity Megan and Tyler didn't realise this before they moved to The Ridge with all its murky goings on! The book is a bit on the short side and the conversations stilted but it did have some creepy moments which I enjoyed. It's a shame but I was expecting this to be a bit better than it was as the reader never really gets to know the characters very well.

The book starts out in an almost too perfect neighborhood then grabs you in a haunting thriller that keeps you guessing! Great read!

A very suspenseful read about Suburban American neighbors and what can go wrong and very dark in a neighborhood of unknown criminals . ts definitely a book that keeps you up at night. ! 4 star reading for the excellent plot and suspenseful plot.

See review on goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishers for gifting me with an ARC of The Ridge for review.

This book is a nice blend of thriller and sci-fi. Megan and Tyler Stokes have left the excitement and hustle of busy Chicago to settle in the suburbs. The sleepy town of WillowRidge offers cookie cutter homes, manicured lawns, identical streets and perfectly respectable neighbors. Well, except for Rachel Addison, the vamp from across the street who's been overly friendly to Tyler. When Megan feels Rachel has crossed the line, she goes over to confront her and gets way more than she bargained for.
Megan discovers Rachel is more than just a lustful neighbor and WillowRidge is more than just an average suburban community!

I read through this book pretty quickly. The writing is simple, plot is uncomplicated although you need to suspend reality. If you are looking for a palette cleanser, a fun and campy read, this novel will satisfy.

THE RIDGE by John Rector is a story about a woman named Megan who has recently moved to the quiet town of Willow Ridge from Chicago with her husband Tyler because of his new job at a place referred to as "the Institute".
Megan struggles to fit into her new surroundings while missing the hustle and bustle of big city life, and becomes obsessed with her neighbor Rachel whom she is sure has her sights set on Tyler.
Life in the quiet neighborhood coupled with her own unhappiness adds to her fixation on Rachel to the point of becoming irrational and predatory, thereby adding stress to an already strained relationship with her husband, and eventually leads to a situation involving her neighbor that results in tragedy.
Something is terribly amiss in the neighborhood and small town that Megan seems to be the only one to notice, until she finally finds someone who appears to feel the same about Rachel and several other things taking place in Willow Ridge.
Will Megan be able to convince Tyler that she is not going insane and that something is wrong with the town and its residents? Frustration and alienation affect Megan's mental condition, and alcohol abuse is a growing factor that is adding to her marital difficulties and erratic behavior.
John Rector has written an interesting novel in THE RIDGE that on the surface seems to be a story about a lonely, bored housewife that has an overactive imagination while refusing to find happiness in her new environment.
I have to admit this took awhile to unfold and capture my interest, but patience was rewarded as this is a well written book revealing that things are not always what they initially seem to be, and suspense builds up until the conclusion making this an enjoyable read.
3.5 stars

Megan Stokes stood alone in her living room, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands and staring out the large bay window at the corner house across the street.
The whore was outside again, on her knees in the dirt.
Megan watched her for a while, then she lifted the cup to her lips, blew away the steam, and took a sip.
It burned.

Not a bad beginning of a book.
Call someone a bad name and for some reason I'm hooked. Words...how I love them.



Megan goes over to confront the woman she is staring at and something terrible happens. That she tries to cover up. Her husband Tyler arrives home and she drags him into it.

Then after some weird stuff goes on..Megan starts to think that maybe everyone thinks she is crazy.

But the town of Willow Ridge is very different. It has cookie cutter houses that look very much alike and the people in the town just have a different vibe about them.
Megan wants to leave and go home to Chicago...but that's really not allowed.

She befriends a woman in town that makes her not feel so crazy.


But no one is really telling her the truth. Other than an old man that tells her the sweepers come at night.
Don't read any spoilers for this one folks. Just dive in. You kinda know where it is heading but it's still a fun read to get there.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

Willow Ridge is community built by a company for their employees, on first impression it is like Stepford but that’s where the similarity stops. Megan and Tyler Stokes relocate there into the middle of nowhere from Chicago. Megan believes Tyler who works at the “Institute” is too familiar with the next-door neighbour and following an argument over this sets Megan to question everything around her. As time passes things become stranger and as some twists in the storyline develop it causes Megan’s life to become a nightmare. The author allows you to quickly get that feeling of something strange is going on, but cleverly keeps it secret to the end. This is a fairly fast moving story with good suspense and twists which makes it a book I would recommend to all thriller lovers.

Really enjoyable read .

*4.5 stars

This book, at first, reminded me of the book : The Drowning Girls. Where the neighborhood seems perfect but underneath the facade has a lot of secrets. I soon realized though, that this book was quite different!! And I honestly loved the "twist"! It soon becomes apparent that not all is what it seems at The Ridge. After moving from Chicago with her husband, Megan finds the suburban life is not for her. Its often referred to as Stepford, where everything seems perfect, the lawns and houses are immaculate, the women are perfect, and life at the Ridge is ideal. Or is it? Megan soon finds out that something more is lying underneath all this perfection after a night that turns deadly. Megan starts investigating exactly what's going on but finds more questions that answers. I really enjoyed this ride. Its another book that I ended up reading in one sitting because I found that I couldn't put it down!

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Ridge by John Rector is a recommended sort of sci fi, sort of domestic thriller, with a wee-little zombie undertone.

Megan and Tyler Stokes have moved from Chicago to Willow Ridge. Willow Ridge is middle-class employee housing for the Institute, a research center where Tyler now works, and is hundreds of miles from civilization. It's a planned community with four allowed house colors, open manicured lawns, and a Stepford-like vibe in the air. What Megan is really angry about is the neighbor across the street, Rachel Addison. Rachel has been flirting with Tyler, propositioning him, and Megan is not about to let that infraction stand. When she goes across the street to confront Rachel, Megan ends up throwing a tantrum and Rachel ends up dead - but maybe not. When Megan tells Tyler about the accident, he goes over to investigate and Rachel is there, answering the door.

Is Megan losing her mind? It seems like she must be because now she's noticing off behavior in others and it looks like Rachel might be entering the territory of the walking dead - that is until the clean-up crew comes late one night. It seems that neighbor David Mercer might have more information that he's kept hidden, but he is reluctant to openly talk about anything because he knows they are all being watched. What is really going on in Willow Ridge and at the Institute?

While The Ridge is basically well written and has a simple easy to follow narrative, it does suffer from a lack of real suspense and tension being created to make Megan's situation seem more dire and terrifying. You really end up feeling, at first, that she's losing her mind and the story is going to be her sinking into madness - unless the zombie-like Rachel was real or if Mercer's hidden information is legitimate. Megan also seems a little too excitable and eager to overshare her suspicions with people. Discretion doesn't seem to be a trait she exhibits. The creepiness factor is occasionally there, though, which helps some. The ending is interesting.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1988025115
on 5/2/17 PM http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the RIDGE by John Rector. When Megan and Tyler move to a new area because of Tyler's new job, Megan, a city girl, is somewhat bored and lonely. She knows this is a great move for her husband, but she misses the Chicago area with the hustle and bustle. Willow Falls is a quiet, suburb with perfect lawns and homes. Megan doesn't fit in, and it doesn't help that the neighbor is overtly flirting with her husband. Megan decides to confront the issue, and something awful happens - the neighbor has a horrible accident, and Megan leaves the scene. She is unnerved as her neighbor appears to be dead, and she doesn't know what to do.
Megan is stricken with guilt until she sees her neighbor alive and well. Megan believes she is going crazy; but is she.....
The Ridge is truly a horror novel and will have the reader afraid of suburbia. Rector's writing is strong and pulls you in right away. This novel is descriptive, fast paced, and apprehensive.
In the tradition of Bentley Little, readers will truly wonder what is real and what is not real. RECOMMEND...

This is a well done thriller with touches of horror, sci-fi, and mystery I didn't entirely expect. Megan and Tyler are the every-man dealing with issues they couldn't foresee and don't entirely understand at first. No spoilers from me, which makes this hard to review. However, thanks a lot to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a very plot driven page turner which makes it perfect for travel or the beach (or pretty much any time.) Two thumbs up!

In The Ridge we follow main character Megan around from what starts as a pretty ordinary scene of jealousy that morphs into something quite sinister throughout the story.

Megan doesn't like Rachel due to her advances on her husband so she goes and talks to her. And that's where what Rachel supposedly did stops being relevant and we begin questioning what the heck is going on in this tight community.
Megan knows what she saw but her husband's comments about her mental health shine doubt on it. As she comes in contact with other neighbours, more questions arise, along with some clues, about what is happening.

The novel's pace is good, as we watch Megan struggle with her relationship with her husband, hiding her secret and trying to make sense of what happened. And then there are those dreadful dreams about a little girl and a blue light that she just cannot make sense of.

This has some resemblances to the psychological thrillers out there because there is doubt about the main character's mental stability as well as the good intentions of those around her. But that is pretty much where the resemblances stop.

The narrative is nice and fluid and though the first line bothered me due to the construction of the sentence, there was a connection to a later chapter that I enjoyed. There is no jumping back and forward in time here and that was refreshing.

As the story develops, there is a good amount of creepy factor and I thought things were getting really interesting. However, as the resolution approached, I was stuck with so many questions that I could not get complete satisfaction out of the book.

(view spoiler)

So yes, as you can see, a lot of questions. Also, I didn't really get some of Megan's choices and that kind of thing usually bothers me quite a lot.

Still, I believe The Ridge is a book you need to appreciate for the ride, not necessarily the destination, as it can be quite enjoyable and an interesting approach on the Stepford Wife concept.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.