A haunting story of survival, Dark Roads follows two young women as they seek to solve the mystery behind a span of roadside killings in rural British Colombia. The premise is unique, the atmosphere is dark and brooding, and the characters are strong, complex, and relatable. I would describe this book as an atmospheric or character-driven suspense novel, rather than a fast-paced thriller. The slow-paced narrative style works perfectly for the story by creating a sense of dread that gradually builds towards the climax. The main characters, Hailey and Beth, are also easy to connect with as they follow their instincts to uncover the truth; however, I have to admit that it was Hailey’s dog, Wolf, who really stole the show for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-galley!

This is the first book I have read from this author and will definitely not be the last. I liked the blend of genres in this book. There were a few plot points throughout that lacked plausibility and just seemed a little off, but overall this book was well written and very character driven and action packed. It is always a good sign for me if I begin to loathe the main bad person in an exaggerated way. I ended up really disliking the aunt by the end after seeing all that the main character went through before she took action. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Thanks to Ms. Stevens, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an egalley in advance of publication.

I’ve enjoyed Ms. Stevens’ thrillers, following women through trauma of crime, kidnapping and abuse to a state of self-acceptance and wholeness. This novel continues in that vein, with the lovely Vancouver Island forests as the backdrop to evil in a small town. The central mystery is the disappearance of young women over decades along one stretch of highway. We follow two young women coping with that evil and their own loss. The resolution is satisfying, even if the suspense runs a little thin since we are pointed toward one suspect from the very beginning.

I give this a strong 3 star rating. It felt very young to me. It wasn’t too complicated. . . the relationships were simple. My favorite character was the dog!

I was pumped to read this book as it was time to throw a thriller into the mix.

The setting: "The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing....Hailey McBride [a teenager, orphaned after both parents died] calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land.." However, she ends up [...in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey.... One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why." And so it begins,

Although in the prologue Stevens points out that many of the victims were Indigenous women/First Nations communities, I'm not sure that Amber was one of them.

Hailey's best friend, Jonny, is a particular target for Vaughn. Her found dog, Wolf--two different color eyes--one brown, one blue, plays a significant role in the story.

Told in Hailey's voice until Beth comes on to the scene when she is the narrator.

Somewhat of a cat and mouse game. Not exactly a page turner, although it kept my interest though after a while it lost steam and became somewhat tiresome. However, I didn't figure it out, which is a plus. BUT,

I'm thinking someone must have optioned this book to make into a movie.

The author notes that she based her novels on real events from the Highway of Tears in Northern British Columbia and lists resources for those seeking help. A bonus.

Absolutely readable, but hoped for more.

This book is riveting. So fully of action, you don't want to put it down. Hailey McBride has gone through so much, losing both parents and moving into her aunts house. It's incredible that Hailey loves her aunt and cousin as she is being bullied and controlled by her aunts husband. She isn't allowed to get a job and is manipulated, until she finds out her uncles secrets and wants to use them to get her freedom. It doesn't go as planned and she is forced to find her own way. Living on a highway known for missing and killed women, it was easy for people to assume her demise and she is banking on that. When she finds her friend, Ambers, body and watches as he uncle knows exactly where the body is, she has to assume her cop uncle is to blame.

As Ambers family finds out about her demise and the memorial service to honor the women killed, Ambers sister, Beth, comes to town to find vengeance for her sister. What Beth and Hailey go through together is astonishing. From here there is so much action, you don't want to miss. Definitely give this book a chance.

Chevy Stevens is an excellent storyteller. I read her book, Still Missing, so I was anxious to read this one. I was not disappointed. The story was haunting and chilling and based on true events which happened on The Highway of Tears in northern British Columbia, Canada where girls went missing and many were brutally murdered. Hailey McBride's dad has died in an accident so she has been taken in by her aunt Lana and her new husband, Vaughn, a member of the police force. Hailey finds Vaughn to be very controlling and inappropriate towards her so she decides to leave home and takes refuge in a cabin in the woods. Her best friend, Amber, is murdered by the serial killer who has been slaying the girls on the highway. Hailey finds Amber's body and secretly contacts Vaughn's partner. Tension builds from this point and does not let go until the surprise ending. The plot is action-packed and fast-paced with interesting characters. I'm looking forward to reading more of Stevens' books and highly recommend this one. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a free copy for an honest review

Fictionalized story of the women who go missing on highways in Canada. This one was really good and kept me up reading past my bedtime. Told from two different points of view, this tells the tale of Hailey and Beth--both are trying to solve the mystery of who killed Amber. Lots of suspense and a twisty ending. Definatley recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book...one of my favorite authors, Chevy Stevens, what's not to love? Sometimes one can be disappointed by an author, but Ms. Stevens never fails to deliver the fast paced thrillers and in this one, a bit of a survivalist story thrown in. The setting was in itself a character in the book, dark, foreboding and creepy! The ending was not predictable and you will love it, though you may hate the amount of sleepy you lose in reading it!

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens is the perfect summer read. Except you will be so glued to the pages you won't might forget to reapply your sunscreen!!! My heart was absolutely racing as I devoured this book!

I love Chevy Steven’s she is hands down one of my favorite authors! She knows how to tell a story than never gets boring and an ending that is always jaw dropping. One thing that I absolutely loved about this one is that it was inspired by a crime junkies podcast episode and I love crime junkies so learning that after reading this was awesome!!

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the eARC of Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens. I have enjoyed all of the books that I have read by Chevy Stevens and I was super excited to read Dark Roads!

Hailey has recently lost her father to a tragic car accident. She moves in with her Aunt and her Aunt's husband; Vaughn who is a cop in the small town of Cold Creek. There have been a string of girls going missing in this small town. The latest victim, Amber, works in the diner in this small town and she and Hailey are developing a relationship. Hailey becomes suspicious of Vaughn . He is known as the "Ice Man". Let's just say that he's shady. Fearful that Vaughn may be the killer, Hailey flees to the mountains to escape being the next victim. Since she is missing, however, people assume that she is the next victim. Next, Beth enters the picture. Beth is Amber's sister and has come to Cold Creek in hopes to find closure and discover just what happened to her sister Amber. The two girls are introduced by Hailey's friend Jonny. Together, they are fierce and are determined to bring justice to the missing girls of Cold Creek. Are Hailey's instincts correct about Vaughn? Or, is there a killer on the loose in Cold Creek?

Dark Roads will be released on August 3, 2021!

This was the BEST book I have read in a long long time. I absolutely love Chevy Stevens. I was quarantined while I was reading this book and I literally couldn't put it down. Thank you Netgalley and thank you Chevy for keeping me entertained !!

I really enjoyed this thriller, it was suspenseful and had a surprising twist at the end. Characters were likeable and I enjoyed how the first part of the book was Hailey's perspective then it switches to Beth's story and then chapters switch back and forth as the story winds up.

Chevy Steven's is a great writer, who writes fabulously twisty novels that you won't want to put down! Dark Roads was no exception. The descriptive language in this makes you feel like you are right with Hailey, Beth and Johnny and intertwined in their struggles. I don't want to give anything away but just know that once you start you will have a hard time thinking about anything else until you've finished!

I LOVED this book. i have read a few other novels by Chevy Stevens, and this will not be the last.
This book is about a highway where women tend to mysteriously disappear. The story is told by two women, one escaping a terrible living situation and letting people believe she has been abducted and another coming into town looking for answers about her sister who was murdered. I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers.
I really liked how this book was written, being told separately by the two main characters and then switching.
Normally I have an idea of how the story might end, but this one had me guessing until the end. I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. I'm looking forward to reading more of Steven's books in the future.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review!

Dark Roads
by Chevy Stevens

This was a really good and terrifying mystery thriller.

The story begins with the voice of a murdered woman telling the reader of the dangers of Cold Creek Highway. A place where over the decades many women have disappeared or have been found murdered. To the point that there are billboards posted along the road with photos the dead and missing women to warn other women not to hitch hike or travel alone at night on this deadly 500 mile stretch of road.

Local police sergeant, Vaughn is a shady character from the beginning and is making Hailey's young life miserable. After the sudden and mysterious death of her father, she has no other choice but to go live with her aunt who is married to sergeant Vaughn. After a frightening confrontation with Vaughn, Hailey runs away to the nearby woods which surround Cold Creek Highway hoping she can hide from her hateful uncle until she turns 18 and can leave Cold Creek for good. From this point in the book it is a story of survival, brutal murder and finally some redemption with twists you won't see coming.

Really good mystery/thriller.5 stars !

The Prologue to this book just reached out and grabs you. I couldn't wait to dive in and read this fictionalized account of a real series of murders that have occurred on the Highway of Tears in British Columbia.

Hailey has recently lost her father in a tragic accident and moves in with her aunt and uncle. Her uncle Vaughn is a sergeant with the Cold Creek police department. He's an unfriendly, cold intimidating man. Vaughn gives Hailey the heebie-jeebies and she decides she can't stay in her current living situation. Hailey is scrappy and bold and has courage that can only exist in youth. To escape from her skeevy uncle she makes a dramatic exit with assistance from her friend Jonny and the coolest dog ever, Wolf.

The reader is introduced to Beth in the second section of the book. After meeting Hailey, Beth is kind of uninspiring. She's whiny, needy, and ambivalent. Her POV makes the middle of the book drag on to the point of annoyance. Her YA angsty relationship drama really kills the mood and momentum of the book.

The third section of the book is revealed through the POV of both Hailey and Beth. In this section, the action picks back up and is balls to the walls. The revelation of the Killer's identity is surprising and I definitely didn't see it coming. The author ties the tragic loss of Hailey's father to the current situation a little too neatly but otherwise, it isn't terrible.

The epilogue is really damn good too. It was probably my favorite part of the book. I recommend this book if you can ignore how annoying Beth is and trust that it does get better.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC in return for providing an honest review.

4.5 stars

"Dark" is absolutely the right word for this novel.

Hailey and Beth share perspectives in this work. Readers first meet Hailey shortly after her father has died and she has come to live with her aunt, nephew, and the world's creepiest uncle: Vaughn. His creep factor is heightened by what appears to be his crooked cop lifestyle. Hailey and Beth are tied because Beth is the older sister of Hailey's love interest, Amber. When Beth comes into the picture, she is experiencing a major life event, and what seem like disparate characters and events all converge nicely. Not to be left out are Johnny and Wolf: both excellent ancillary characters.

While Vaughn seems like a clear villain all along, the landscape comes off as a wholly distinct villainous entity. The long stretch of desolate highway, the woods, and a sense that the women in this town are somehow disposable objects all combinee to create a truly frightening and looming threat: that as a young woman, one must anticipate that murder is a likely outcome. It is both shocking and later understandable to watch how these characters find themselves in this space and struggle so much to see a way out of or around it.

This is my first Stevens novel, and I will be back for more. The rustic setting presents some great modern Naturalism, and the women characters - in some cases - are more complex than one might expect at first glance. Readers should prepare for a difficult experience. There is a great deal of violence against women - and at times others, including animals - ranging from assault to murder. There is also quite a bit of discussion of overt sexual violence through a number of methods. Readers who can manage these subjects will find a lot to admire in the storytelling and general path that Stevens forges.

I was so blown away by the writing in this book. Everything about it was good:
Characterization
Setting
Plot
Voice
Everything!

But the thing that really engaged me was how real these characters felt, and none of them were cookie-cutter. They were all complicated.
There are two main viewpoints in the book and they were so distinct from one another, but int in an exaggerated sort of way.
There are definitely triggers in this book. Examples are runaways, sexual abuse, losing a parent at a young age, and of course, serial killers. Everything was handled respectfully, without sensationalism. I was so wowed by the author that I am going to keep my eye out for more of his books.

Love love love Chevy Stevens. I’ve now read everything she’s ever written. This one was so hard to read at times and my heart broke for the main character. I want my own Wolf though.