▪️ Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
rating: 2 ⭐️
format: physical arc
length: 301 pages
pub day: january 17, 2023

The prologue for LL caught my attention, but the rest of the book just let me down. The plot kept me intrigued enough to keep reading, but boy, was this ever a slow burn ! There are 5 pov's in this book, which made things start off confusing. Once I got the hang of who was who, I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing really happens until near the end. The ending was a whole other issue for me, and I ended up being really let down by the way things turned out. I didn't see the end coming, so finding out what the real story was is what kept me reading, but overall, this one was just a miss for me.

Thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for my advanced copy !

I really enjoyed this domestic drama. I could definitely see this one as a true crime episode about murder in suburbia on the ID channel.

I thought that the story unfolds at a perfect pace and the drama and revelations never stop.

The epilogue was fantastic and wrapped the book up in the same suburban drama as how it began.

A slow burn of a mystery that takes place in affluent town.. 4 teens - one winds up dead and her mother is on the PROWL to uncover the truth.

I have never been a fan of MULTIPLE POVs because let’s be honest ..these seem to get me confused and lose my focus easily!!! I loved the premise of the story but I just felt like it was missing something - I may have to read it again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stephen Amidon, and Celdon books for this ARC.

As I was reading this book I kept getting so mad at the characters. I have come to realize books where rich people play the "poor me" card, I get frustrated. Most of the characters in this book were terrible. I don't want to go into too much detail and give anything away, but if you like slow burns with unlikeable characters, this one's for you! 

I listened to the book and I thought the narrator did a great job. However, I would have liked it a bit more if there were different narrators to go along with the different POVs.

This book is really well written. The author did such a good job at writing the different POVs. Each character had a different background, and some with completely different social standings. The topics in this book are difficult, and I think they need to be talked about more. I was so angry throughout the entire book. It's just something you have to experience. As soon as I was done I had to message a friend and talk about it. It brought up that much feeling. It will leave you thinking more deeply on certain social topics.

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for my copies in exchange for my review!
I will add bookstagrams link when I post.

A group of teens. A few parents. One shocking murder.

This book reminds you that one misstep, or a reputation that precedes you, can be your undoing. This is a great mystery/thriller with complications brought on by secret relationships, protective mothers, and a whole lotta miscommunication There was a lot of classism (and racism) but it created a storyline and a place for the unlikeable character development which I thought was well done. Patrick was the one redeeming character and I really would have liked to see more of him in the book.

The author takes a risk with the ending, but I thought it played out the way it was meant to - after all - there aren't always happy endings in life!

Thanks to NetGalley and Celandon Books for an advance reader's copy.

A well written, tense mystery about a group of morally questionable adults and their equally morally questionable children who are all, in one way or another involved in the murder investigation of a young girl

A young girl is murdered while hanging out with a group of friends, a drunk man sees the suspect, a young man is blamed who doesn't have the physical capabilities. This book was chilling, but at the same time drove me nuts. It's one of those books that still leave you hanging, and you question if there will be a prequel to sort it all out (honestly probably not with this one). 4 out of 5 stars for this reason. I received a copy of this book for my honest review.

Locust Lane had the makings of a great murder mystery: wealth, secrets, drugs, and of course the murder of a local girl. Set in the Boston suburbs, we follow several families and the repercussions the crime has on each of them. Enjoyed the story and setting, but felt that the intensity waned as the story continued.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A riveting and powerful read, this multilayered story winds and sweeps through the lives of characters that at first glance, almost appear to have it all. Almost, but not quite, as soon becomes apparent when a young girl is murdered, and it becomes likely that the twenty-year old children of our three main protagonists are inextricably tied up in the drama. Somehow.

A soon-to-become terrifying peek into the family lives of our main protagonists, inhabitants of a wealthy and privileged slice of suburbia that could be just about anywhere in multi-millionaire-town America, this story takes the reader on a dark and suspenseful ride into what may or may not be psychopathy, in some of its most insidious strains.

Alice and Celia are friends, having met through the relationship in place between their two children - Hannah and Jack, respectively. Their mansion-centered lives are (at least on the surface) settled; for Celia through her three strapping sons, and the arms of her handsome, witty and charming husband, Oliver, a managing partner in the city’s largest law firm. Alice, on the other hand, is more of a wildcard, both in temperament and appetites, struggling to understand both her secretive tech-genius husband Geoff, and her troubled and needy step-daughter Hannah. Alice, however, is not afraid to take her happiness into her own hands. The plot can only thicken when we meet Michel, a handsome Lebanese restauranteur, the father of Christopher, who is the best friend of Jack, and the third link in a chain that binds these three together in a drama that will be revealed, albeit slowly, with ragged layers and ribbons, obfuscating truth so terrible it would perhaps have been better left sequestered.

Just exactly what was Jack, Hannah, and Christopher’s role to play in the murder of a young woman? With twists and turns and lies and deceit, so densely woven you can barely find your way through it, this book is hard to put down, and a terrifically compulsive read.

A great big thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own

What a wonderful book.
Well done, Stephen Amidon. I loved being on the road with you to solve this mystery.
The crime/thriller was fast-paced and so enjoyable.

This book is Mystic River meets Desperate Housewives. It focuses on the murder of a teenager in a small town and finding her killer. Her last living moments were spent with three local teens making them all suspects. There are several POVs in the book, most of them being from the local teens’ parents.

I will say this book will draw you in right from the prologue! It does slow a bit as the other POVs are being introduced, but then it becomes pretty hard to put this one down. It’s gripping and will keep pushing you through each chapter to figure out the truth. I was surprised with the ending but also felt pretty real for how the legal system sometimes works.

If you loved Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, I highly recommend Locust Lane.

Thank you CeladonBooks for my gifted copy of this arc. I was able to listen to the audiobook while reading and let me tell you, narrator Cassandra Campbell was perfect for this book.

The book hooked me from the start and it grew in suspense the further it went. When a young woman, who isn’t a local in a small upper class community,is found murdered in her uncles home, the police have their work cut out for them.

Told from multiple POVs with well developed characters. This is a slow burner suspense book you will have a hard time putting down.

This is a slow going mystery that was a difficult start for me. The characters weren't the most likeable so that was a struggle. There was a scene of an animal getting injured (trigger warning) which I had to try and buzz past quickly as that can be difficult for me. This book was full of secrets, drama, and I felt as thought the ending left a lot to be desired. I wanted more conclusive answers. Clearly, this is part of the authors grand plan for this book. I thought it was well written and it took me a bit to get the hang of all the characters and situations.

I love a good story about how life is not what it seems. Behind every seemingly beautiful life is complicated lives and everyone has to deal with. We hide and we try to save face, but we must always reconcile who we are what what we stand for.

I found this book a bit slow and boring. It was almost to much like reading the headlines about the girl who was murdered by one of the Kennedy kids. A bit to much like that for me. It did not exactly hold my attention but made me keep reading until I finally had to call it quits. It was well written but just not for me. It was more about everyone but the young dead girl.

I just could not enjoy this one.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

3 stars from me.

I always love a good murder mystery and domestic thriller and this book is perfect! It was a little difficult to get into at first since the characters in this story are not the most likable, especially the parents.

This is a slow burn mystery so be prepared for an uphill battle, it will take awhile. The story also has multiple point of views and also multiple timelines. There are unreliable characters which is always one of my favorites. The only complaint I have is I feel the ending fell a little flat and I wish their was a little more.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon books for my ARC

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon Books. Honestly, I enjoyed this book. It has a bit of Pretty Little Liars vibe and Gossip girl vibe. A young girl found dead at a wealthy neighborhood and the wealthy trying to protect their own. The beginning of the book stung me a bit because of a dog getting hurt. The first 20% of the book is a tad bit slow, but it takes off from there. I honestly liked the book, because it does capture how if you can pull strings to get work done or get away with murder. Over all a good read, I cannot give it 5/5 and would give it 3.5/5 rating but it is worth the read.

Money, power, love and lies.

Eden, a local 20 year old, ends up dead. Three teens are the laat to see her alive. One of them gets arrested, but the pieces don't seem to fit perfectly. The parents get involved and some friendships are destroyed while other alliances are formed.

This was an addictive domestic drama filled with some vile people, but who knows the lengths we'd go through to protect our children. It gave off vibes of Desperate Housewives and Defending Jacob. A guilty pleasure of people behaving badly mixed with a great who-done-it.

I was surprised and heart broken by the ending. It has left gutted, in the best way.

Good to the very end! It was suspenseful, a bit screwed up (in a good way) but kept me engaged the whole time!

One of my recent reads from @netgalley was Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon. This is a murder mystery/domestic thriller that is set in the affluent community of Emerson, MA. In this slow-burn suburban story, a young woman named Eden is murdered. As news of the murder spreads through the town, an investigation will lead to three other teens and the secrets they share. The story is told from five different points of view, four of which are the parents of each one of the teens involved. The other POV is of an alcoholic, grieving father who just so happened to be driving past the house where the murder took place at just the right time to see...something...a shadow of someone hiding behind a bush.

This story is more about the lives of the people impacted by Eden's murder, than it is about the murder itself. It covers the thoughts and feelings of the parents of the three teens involved in Eden's death as they do whatever it takes to protect them. It is also an exploration into social class and how that affects not only how the general public view our suspects, but also how their parents react.

I liked this one, it was a bit boring at times for me. Which I think has more to do with not really connecting to any of these characters.

If you love suburban thrillers and all the juicy gossip and manipulation that comes with them, then give this one a try. It came out already on January 17th!