The cover on this book always caught my eye. I had enjoyed her first book, and was not disappointed in this one. Kind of spooky, kind of scary, kept me on my toes through the whole thing. Perfect for this time of year and will definitely become a recommendation for a horror fan.

When I was offered this book to read, I thought that I was reading outside my comfort zone. I mean, I don't read horror which is the genre that I pigeonholed this one into. I thought, though, that this would make a great book to read specifically for RIPXV which is why I said yes. I had also read some good reviews when it originally came out, and the cover caught my eye from when I first saw it.



But let's examine this idea of being adventurous a bit before I talk about the story.



Do I like a good mystery? Check.



Do I like a dual time line novel? Check.



Do I like buildings that hold their secrets close and then gradually reveal them? Check



So it would appear that I was not reading that adventurously after all. Having said that, this isn't my normal historical fiction dual time line story. There were, of course, things that were outside my norm. But let's talk about the book first.



When the book opens we meet a young woman named Viv Delaney who has ended up in a small town called Fell, New York almost by accident. She ends up at The Sun Down Motel and is offered the job working the night shift. Needing somewhere to sleep and a way to earn money, Viv says yes, setting in place a series of events which ultimately leads to her disappearance.



More than thirty years later her niece Carly turns up in Fell looking for answers. Her mother, Viv's younger sister, has recently died, never having had the answer to the question of what happened to Viv all those years before.



The book alternates between 1982 and 2017 when Carly's life begins to mirror that of her aunt. She gets a job working the night shift at the motel and uses her time during the day to try and solve the mystery of what happened to Viv. This in itself echoes Viv's own life.



Fell is a strange place. Despite being only a small town, it has had more than it's fair share of murders in recent years. Working the night shift, Viv is often the only person awake, except for the ghosts that haunt the hotel. There's a young boy and an unhappy woman and she can often smell cigarette smoke when there is no one else there. And one or all of these ghosts is not happy. Viv often finds locked doors flung open, and there are times when the neon sign at the front of the motel just stops working. The thing about these ghosts is that no one in town will talk about any of the bad things that happen in town. Viv therefore starts investigating who they might be, how they died and how they are linked to the motel. Along the way we meet Alma, the only woman cop in town who has to work the nightshift and Marnie, a local photographer who sometimes works on surveillance.



Carly sees the same ghosts. While she is really looking for more information about what happened to her aunt, she is also drawn to try and find out who they are and how they died. As she starts to put the stories together, she also meet Alma and Marnie, but they deny knowing Viv very well, and even deny knowing each other.



I have to say that the way that the two stories echo each other definitely helped build the suspense. There were multiple occasions where I found myself holding my breath as I waited to see what would happen next and how the story would be bought to an end.






I mentioned at the beginning that the structure of this book ticks my boxes. It wasn't all familiar though. In my normal reads, the buildings that are hiding secrets are generally older. The Sun Down Motel was relatively new when Viv started working there, but ended up being stuck in time, barely changing between that time and when Carly started, to the point that they had never been able to get a computer to work in the office.



Another difference is that the ghosts are generally less hostile in my normal reads, but I do think that these ghosts had good reason for their hostility!



It was also interesting to read the dual timeline where both threads were during my life time. Every now and again there were small glimpses of early 80s pop culture which was also fun.



I had never read Simone St James before but on the basis of this book, I will definitely be looking to read more from her. So while this step wasn't as far out of my normal reading patterns as I originally thought, it was worthwhile!


Rating 4/5

This was creepy, super-fast read that I really enjoyed! Split between the 1980s and 2017, it's the story of the Sun Down Motel in Feel, New York. When Vivien is 20 years old, she comes across the motel on her way to New York City to become an actress. She stops for the night, but ends up staying and gettnig a job at the motel. But things are not what they seem at the Sun Down, and weird occurrences begin happening. And then Vivien goes missing. In 2017, Carly, Vivien's niece, has come to Fell to try and find out what happened to her aunt. She gets a job at the Sun Down, and the ritual starts all over again. A little bit horror story, a little bit murder mystery, a little bit family drama, The Sun Down Motel had it all!

I was not sure what genre this book fell into when I first started reading. Was it a ghost story, yes there were a few of them around, or was it a psychological thriller. I think it falls slightly more into the latter category. I have to admit I was not quite sure which of the women in the story was talking as the action went back and forth over a 35 year span. It was impossible to quit reading the last half of the book, it kept me up late. Very interesting and diverse set of characters, most of whom were very believable.

Damn good book. Deserves more stars!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you remember sitting around a campfire and telling ghost stories? Or maybe your older siblings used to try to freak you out at night or when you had sleepovers with your friend’s creepy ghost stories were always a part of it.

If you love that bit of a creep factor to heighten your reading experience, this story is definitely calling your name. This is exactly what a murder mystery should be about. St. James takes “the who done it” factor and ramps it up throughout the entire story, but she also adds in additional factors that really have you on the edge of your seat.

The foreshadowing is right there in your face and you somewhat know what is going to happen, but you still have that compulsive pull to keep on reading. To see what she is going to throw in there to keep you off balance. St. James does that really well! I could not stop reading!

I am not going to ruin your experience with the story by telling you what goes on, but just before warned that reading it late at night probably wouldn’t be a really good idea. But you are going to do it anyway!

This book is intense, creepy, and not for the faint of heart. But if you love crime stories, with heightened thrills and suspense, this is the book for you.

I received this from Netgalley but ended up listening to it as an unabridged audiobook for the Ladies of Horror Fiction August 2020 Group Readalong. You can read all the comments and always add your own right here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/21591327.

I did not take very good notes at all because my brain is fried and I am exhausted so this is another dreadful review based on my terrible memory that isn’t really a review at all. I sucketh. Sorry I’m like this lately.

This was an engrossing read. It’s more of a secret filled thriller type book (and I LOVE those) with some ghosties rounding things out. If you like dark fiction and long-buried secrets I think you’ll find a lot to enjoy here.

A young woman whose life has sort of imploded decides to take a road trip to learn more about her aunt who disappeared in the 80’s while working the night shift at a shady motel. Apparently no one cared enough to dig. She wants answers and she’s going to get them even if she has to nearly step into the same shoes as her aunt and put herself in harm’s way.

This story is told in two timelines. The current day and the 80’s but both are set in the town of Fell which seems to be a town stuck in time. Both timelines were fascinating because both of these women are obsessive types who do everything in their power to ferret out the secrets. I loved that. They won’t rest easy, just like the spirits that may or may not inhabit the motel, until justice is served.

The audiobook version is read by two very different narrators which helped me discern which timeline I was in. There may have been a bit of confusion on my end had it been read by only one person because, honestly, I am easily confused.

I was going to give this book a full five stars but there’s a turn of events at the very end that just didn’t sit right with me after everything that was revealed and for that, I’m knocking off half a star. I can’t say more without spoiling things. I’ll only say that I wish what happened hadn’t happened because it did not feel okay and it was shit just like real life is sometimes shit but it happened so there’s nothing I can do about it but it’s my review and knocking off half a star is what I’m doing!

I really enjoyed this book!

Carly is on a mission to find out what happened to her aunt back in 1982. Viv worked at the front desk of a 24 hour motel and straight up disappeared one night. The little town of Fell, NY has a lot of deaths and disappearances in its history and we're about to find out why.

First off, I loved that this was a ghost story. The supernatural feel made it a little more creepy (although I wouldn't call this book creepy). The setting was great too - Fell seems to be stuck in the 80s, with hardly any modern amenities, like internet.

The characters were good. I did enjoy Carly and Viv, although there were a few spots where I forgot whose chapter was whose. I really enjoyed Heather as the instant best friend/roommate. The other characters I was meh on or went back and forth on my liking.

Anyway, this was a great ghost story. I read the book quickly and was entertained the entire time. My only real complaint is that the book wrapped up a little too nicely.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good, slightly creepy ghost story.

4/5 stars.

This is such a fun and immersive book.
Really enjoying the characters, timeline and spooky factor.
Would look for other books by this author.

A dual narrative, unsolved murders, and a few ghosts make this novel a good fit for fans of Ruth Ware. When Carly Kirk moves to the sleepy town of Fell, she may find more than just the missing aunt she seeks. Friendship, love, and the answers to a sinister mystery await her at the rundown Sun Down Motel. This book will keep you reading late into the night. Just don't forget to leave a light on...

I was fortunate to receive a free ARC of this book from Netgalley. The above thoughts, insights, or recommendations are my own meek musings.

The Sun Down Motel begins in 1982 with the story of Viv Delaney who left her home to travel to New York City. She ends up in Fell, New York, at the Sun Down Motel. The motel is shabby, but Viv is offered a job as the night clerk and being broke, she accepts it. However, something strange is going on at the Sun Down. Doors are opening and closing when no one is in the rooms, the electricity keeps going off, she smells cigarette smoke but doesn’t see anyone smoking and Viv sees strange apparitions. One of the apparitions tells her “to run”. During this same time, young women are going missing in Fell and then found dead. Viv is afraid. Then Viv disappears., too.

In 2017, Carly Kirk is struggling. She has just lost her mother and feels lost. She has always been interested in her Aunt Viv who went missing many years ago. Her mother would never talk about it, so Carly decides to take a break from college and go to Fell, New York, to see if she can find out what really happened to her Aunt Viv.
As luck would have it, Carly finds an apartment with a local college girl who is keen to help Carly find out what happened in 1982. This just happens to be the same apartment that her Aunt Viv lived in before she disappeared. They visit the Sun Down Motel and find that it is rundown but open and Carly also gets hired to work there. Once there she begins to experience strange things, too.

I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting and I love a good mystery, but The Sun Down Motel turned out to be a horror, supernatural mystery, that strained credulity. I tried several times to read it and gave up each time. I decided to give it one more try and started to get into the story and the mystery but then the horror, paranormal elements took over and that ruined it for me. There are also so many convenient things that happened to Carly, like finding a roommate who just happens to love local history and lives in her Aunt Viv's old apartment and getting hired as the night clerk like her Aunt Viv did back in 1982. Even though there was a semi twist at the end it wasn’t enough to make me change my mind about it.

If you like mysteries with paranormal, horror elements you might like The Sun Down Motel but this book fell flat for me.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a dual-timeline novel, with one story following Viv Delaney in 1982, as she takes a job Working the night shift at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York, after running away from her hometown in Grisham, Illinois. She eventually disappears without a trace, never to be seen again. Thirty-five years later, her niece Carly decides to take a road trip to Fell to finally find out what happened to Viv all those years ago, and she quickly realizes that there’s something odd about Fell. Her aunt isn’t the only “dead girl” in Fell. As one of her new friends tells her “Fell has a lot of dead girls.”

That’s the incredible set-up; that Simone St. James leads us to and it’s a great ride as both Viv and Carly navigate the mysteries of Fell in parallel stories set 35 years apart. The revelations really mirror each other as we watch the answer to the mysteries unfold gradually and the overall puzzle reveal itself. The solution has an impact in both stories, so it comes about at the about the same point in the book.

There weren’t any big twists in the story, but nonetheless I really enjoyed the plot because it was a great example of good old-fashioned detective work coming through and it was enjoyable watching all the pieces fall into place. There were a couple nice revelations that kept things interesting throughout, so there were some surprises.

I really liked Carly and Viv and I was rooting hard for both of them as the people of Fell started putting up roadblocks to their research. And I don’t want to give too much away but they both really tried to do the right thing, no matter what. That’s the heroines we need right now!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is in the market for a creepy mystery/thriller with a historical element.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the rACE of the book.
What a ride! Always kept moving with twists that didn't stop. Not at all predictable so I wanted to keep reading. Good thriller.
4.5

Viv Delaney is a 20 year old woman who has recently left home. She finds herself in Fell., NY on an unplanned stop to NYC. She falls into a job at The Sundown Motel where nothing is as it seems. Not only are the visitors to the motel restless but so are the ghosts. Viv finds herself obsessing over all the missing girls in Fell, the girls you tell stories about to make others learn a lesson. Will she find out what really happened to these missing girls? Or will she be the next victim?

No one knows what happened to Carly's Aunt Viv. She disappeared one night never to be heard from again. After the death of Carly's mother she decides to go the Fell to find out the mystery of her missing aunt. She takes a job at the motel where her aunt used to work and starts to discover the odd occurrences that went on there. As she finds out about her aunt's past she discovers something more sinister was going on in Fell.

The Sun Down Motel takes a concept that I've seen many times before and does it so well you forget there even using it. Alternating narrators always throws me off, I often forget which time period I'm in or what characters were doing between reads. This is not the case in this novel. The alternating time lines works so well, since the story moves forward at the same pace. As Carly is figuring things out about her Aunt Viv's past, the chapters in the past narrated by Viv has those things happening to her. The only criticism I had was the arrival of Simon Hess's Grandson. It seemed totally out of left field since the character was sweet and nice at first only to go crazy in a forced climax. The story was so well written and so well done but the ending was extremely rushed. I wouldn't have minded a longer book if it meant the ending took a little more time to come to fruition.

This novel was perfection! I can’t believe it took me so long to read it!

I love a good ghost story, and this one was perfectly done. Just the right amount of the supernatural woven in to a mystery that I did not guess for a second. The end was truly shocking!

I absolutely loved the dual timelines. It was the best way to tell this story. With this book, Simone St James has become an auto-buy author for me.

I am a sucker for a good ghost story and this one did not let me down. There were enough spooky elements intertwined with local lots and romance to keep me on the edge of my seat. Not one to miss!

This book bounces between two main characters and two decades...
Viv, in 1982, has left her parents house to be an actress in NYC but ends up in the small town of Fell, NY at the Sun Down Motel. By luck (bad?) she ends up the new night shift clerk at the motel and begins to notice some strange happenings...ghosts? Strange phone calls, doors opening/shutting on their own, strange smells and visions. Also, young girls from Fell are being murdered. Are they connected? Viv gets drawn into the puzzle and attempts to put the pieces together...
In 2017, Viv's niece Carly travels to Fell attempting to get answers to her aunt's disappearance. By luck (again, bad?) she ends up with the same job, night clerk at the Sun Down Motel, What follows is a roller coaster of a ride to uncovering long buried secrets!
I loved this book!!! I've been in a reading slump for the last few months and it brought me out of it! I felt the dark atmosphere, the tension, anxiety and all the jitters throughout. Definitely a page turner!!
Thanks to Simone St. James, Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Wow! The Sun Down Motel is a wonderfully spooky and satisfying paranormal mystery. It tells the parallel stories of Viv Delaney a young girl who leaves home looking for something new and different and finds herself wrapped up in series of mysterious murders; and Carly, her niece who sets out to find her missing Aunt and ends up following the same trail of murders 35 years later. Family secrets, ghosts-both literal and figurative and plenty of mystery make this an engaging and ultimately, satisfying read.

There is a LOT about this book to recommend it, but it has a very fatal flaw, and that flaw is unfortunately the ending.

I adore Simone St James’ work and have enjoyed every book she’s written. This one was no exception, right up until the end.

The format is standard dual timeline, following protagonists Viv in 1982 and her niece Carly in 2017, both investigating a string of disappearances in Fell, New York, home of the Sundown Motel. The only difference is, Carly’s list of missing women includes her aunt Viv.

Carly’s chapters work mostly in support of Viv’s, Viv being the real star of the story. And Viv’s story is a good one, right up until the end when it takes a really bad turn.

Carly is likable enough for the most part, but it’s Viv who really wins the reader’s love and admiration. She’s a 5-Star heroine who was unfortunately given a 1-Star ending.

The whole appeal of Viv is in her courage. A man is hunting women in Fell. So Viv turns the tables and hunts him. This unfolds wonderfully, until St. James takes the coward’s way out at the end.

The whole book glorifies the actions of a woman willing to work outside of the law to stop a monster, but in the end the plot makes her pay for the very thing that makes us love her. Sure, Viv did the “right” thing, but we can’t have this woman breaking the law without consequences, right?

Sigh. How disappointingly fraught with cowardice.

Here is an entire book that sets us up to root for Viv and admire her actions, only tell us in the end that she still must pay for them, even if we all agree she has the moral high ground and not only agree with but applaud her choices.

Even Carly, who is otherwise mostly likable, asserts that a lot of people might think Viv should be in jail and “maybe she should be.” Ugh.

I loved Viv’s story and admired her heroics, but seeing St James choose to punish her for them in the end left a bad taste in my mouth.

What really bugs me is that we rarely see this same choice made by male authors and/or with male protagonists. Why is it only women who have to suffer for breaking the rules even when doing so benefits the greater good? And why do female authors so often give in to this kind of biased moralizing. I expected better from St James.

A great, creepy, time-jumping mystery/ghost story.
2017: Carly starts to investigate the mystery around her aunt's disappearance in the '80s.
1982: Viv runs away from home and ends up in a small town motel.
Both women discover untold mysteries and multiple ghosts at the same rundown roadside motel. But what are those ghosts trying to tell them? What's the real story behind Viv's disappearance?
Simone St. James creates some authentically creepy moments throughout, capturing the loneliness and paranoia of working a night shift at a haunted motel. The mystery is engaging and it's final resolution is very satisfying.
My only criticism is that both women in both timelines are too similar: they talk the same, the act the same, they have similar supporting characters in their life. All that makes it more confusing than necessary as you jump back and forth between decades. I would have preferred stronger delineation between the two.
But overall it's a fun, spooky read.

This was a fun thrilling read. Some of the plot twists were predictable, but I liked the way the author developed her characters. Her writing style was excellent.