I absolutely loved this! While I have read the book, I was excited to listen to the audiobook! It is a different experience, and listening to it was even better than reading it. The narrator was amazing and perfect.

Jennifer Hillier always delivers, and her creepy carnival vibe was spot on! Twisty and scandalous.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook! It’s one of my favorites!

⭐️Rating: 5/5
✍🏼Author: Jennifer Hillier
🗣️Narrator: Eunice Wong
📖Genre: Thriller

::My thoughts::
I received the ALC from NetGalley and was so impressed with the narration and performance by Eunice Wong. I thought she did a really great job , was easy to follow and kept me engaged / wanting more the entire time.

Jennifer Hillier is a great author and this book had me hooked from start to finish. I couldn’t figure out who the killer was and was so shocked at the very end. It’s everything you can ask for in a thriller, and it has my heart pumping. I loved the amusement park setting and the detail Hillier provided in describing each scene. I felt like I could easily picture each setting and character.

Overall the story is great and I can’t wait to read more of Jennifer Hillier!

*Thank you MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

Okay so I'm normally not even a person who loves the "creepy carnival" vibe but somehow I still blew through this thriller set in a creepy amusement park filled with slimy characters. The writing and narration are extremely well done - it's very evocative and you have the sense that you're almost watching a TV show or a movie rather than listening to an audiobook! The characters, despite being creepy and unlikeable (as the author intended!), are well-written and interesting. When there's a series of alarming disappearances at Wonderland, an amusement park in a small town, who could possibly be behind them - and why?

I love anything Jennifer Hillier so when I saw this backlist title come out as an audiobook, I knew it would be a must listen - and trust me, it did NOT disappoint in terms of entertainment value and readability! (I will give a small warning that this book does deal with some distressing themes (sexual assault), and leans quite dark, even for for a thriller.)

I love a good creepy amusement park story. This one’s a thriller set at an amusement park where teenaged workers have been disappearing for years. Bonus: it’s inspired by Canada’s Wonderland, the park I grew up visiting regularly.

The opening hooked me right away: a young man climbs the park’s Ferris Wheel before the park opens, as a social media stunt. While he’s at the top, someone turns on the wheel, causing him to lose his grip (I’m not even afraid of heights, and this was terrifying).

The boy then disappears, while the dead body of an entirely different person is found beneath the wheel in the morning.

Police detective Vanessa Castro is called in to the scene. She’s new in town and as she investigates the case, she discovers local corruption and plenty of dark secrets.

I loved the mystery in this one, which kept me guessing the whole way. There were multiple mysteries, a very dark history to the park, and plenty of creepy characters.

Vanessa’s relationship issues were less interesting to me, and I’d have eliminated Oscar’s viewpoint entirely. I loved the viewpoints of the teens, however — including one of the missing boys and Vanessa’s resourceful daughter.

Eunice Wong’s narration is strong and immersive. She creates a different voice for each of the characters without overacting and taking you out of the story.

I think the book could have been trimmed a little, but by the end the audiobook kept me hooked. My dog was happy because he had an extra few blocks in his walk as I was desperate to hear the end of the story.

Wonderland was originally published in 2015. This is its first release as an audiobook, and my first time reading the book. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy of this audiobook.

K I L L E R !

WONDERLAND is a 5 Star+ Top-Shelf Psycho-Crime Suspense Mystery Thriller!

Part whodunnit thriller and cop procedural set in the small fictional town of Seaside, WA, where there’s a popular amusement park filled with teenage “Wonder Workers”… some of whom go missing.

Someone better grab the film rights to this Wonder, ASAP! No one can do creepy, and twisted, like Canadian, JH. Definitely worthy of the hype, plus more!

Now, to the down-and-dirty, twisted roller-coaster ride.

What you will find at WONDERLAND: intrigue, magic, fun, clowns, Ferris wheels, amusement, porcelain dolls, thrills, excitement, and mystery. What you do not see behind the façade of Wonderland and the small town, of Seaside, Washington, its preppy young faces, purple shirt crisp uniforms, and winning smiles, . . is a serial killer.

Of course, there is the Clown Museum, home to creepy wax replicas of movie stars and a massive collection of antique porcelain dolls, and did I mention hidden dungeons and tunnels? Spine-tingling.

Everyone wants to work at Wonderland.

Most of the management and ownership of this well-known amusement park—for generations past, has been a victim of a sexual predator. Even the prior owner of Wonderland, Jack Shaw, now deceased, preyed on young boys and used them to his advantage.

Many of his once victims, now grown– have returned to Wonderland, to demonstrate life goes on, by working in management or ownership. The police department seems to cater to Wonderland's needs since without this business, the town would have no jobs, revenue, or nothing to attract tourists.

Everyone has a secret. Many have a dark past. They are disguised; successful, handsome, beautiful, and the worst kind of scary, you would not be aware of their addictions, love/hate, demons, or obsessions. They look like normal, the guy or the girl next door.

MEET THE MAIN CHARACTERS:

A femme fatale, CEO, of Wonderland Bianca, (Dragon Lady) —a cougar in her late thirties, loves young teenage blonde boys. She lures them with her position, offering promises, and advancement while using her sex appeal and alluring evil seduction. When she is tired of them, they are discarded like trash, and on to the next. She leaves behind a string of sex-crazed teenagers and men. Can we count, how many? How does she have time to do her real job?

An MIA grimy creepy night security guard, of Wonderland, Glenn loves porn and is not playing with a full deck. Why is he still working here after all these years? What does he know? Is he capable of murder? Where was he the morning of the murder of Homeless Harry and the missing boy wonder, Blake? Is his mom protecting him?

VP of Operations, Oscar Trejo, best friend with the new owner, Nick (who is sending emails and traveling). Good-looking and intelligent, he appears to be rather protective of the CEO, Bianca, yet he longs to get to know Vanessa a little better.

The new Deputy Chief, with her own demons, Vanessa Castro has left Seattle behind for a new start with her teenage daughter, Ava, and younger son, John-John in Seaside. It is her first day as deputy police chief and everything falls into her lap on day one.

There is an unidentifiable homeless man rotting inside an amusement park, and now a teenage employee with a photo going viral on the top of Wonder Wheel the same morning—now he seems to be missing?

The mayor, Frank Greenberg was a best friend of Vanessa’s late husband, and she has to do a good job to make him proud. Of course, as the book opens she is getting a little action of her own in the sack, which could complicate things when she finds out his identity.

To make matters worse, her fourteen-year-old daughter, Ava is now working at Wonderland with a janitor stalker on her trail and has eyes for a sexy teen new employee.

As the book opens, Wonderland normally a sea of moving bodies, noise, and energy; is totally inanimate, dead. Blake, a disgruntled young teen employee, the social media king, wants to give his last FU to Wonderland, by climbing up the Wonder Wheel and taking selfies to tweet. He plans on this being his last day at work, and wants to make an impression with his middle finger, displayed promptly. It was only 5 am before the park opens; however, he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

A murdered homeless man with his face eaten off left at the park, and Wonder Boy, missing in action on the same day. After further investigation, she finds a number of young boys, all blonde, age eighteen, which have gone missing over the last eight years. They all worked at Wonderland? It appears the police department has many cold cases and looks like they did not do a lot of investigating. What is the connection?

Vanessa is tough and determined to get to the bottom of this mystery—a dangerous serial killer. She continues to balance her work and personal life, as a single mom. She refuses to allow the politics of the small town and the connections between the police department and Wonderland, to get in her way.

Her head is spinning and this small town is anything from dull. Between all the cold cases, the parents of the boys demanding answers, her strained relationship with her daughter, the weird relationship with Oscar, and the pressures of the job, mayor, and chief of police; Everyone expects her to find the serial killer before he or she strikes again.

WOW! One fast-action heart-pounding intense page-turner. With many red herrings, mixed with, wit, and contemporary social media fun ---keeping you guessing until the end! Loved Vanessa’s character; hope we see more of her in the future, as well as Ava.

For all you Freak & Creep fans, you will enjoy revisiting Seattle PD Officer, Jerry Isaac, (love him), with the scarred neck and tortured speech, who comes back to town, to help out Vanessa with a case he worked on years ago in Seaside.

Also if you read Little Secrets, this is PI Vanessa Castro's original story. A former homicide detective with Seattle PD, Vanessa has just moved her family to Seaside to take on a new job as the town’s Deputy Chief of Police, only to discover a dead body in Wonderland midway through her very first day.

Jennifer, being pregnant and giving birth, during the writing of Wonderland, did not slow down Hillier, the serial killer queen of fiction. Your Twitter fans, and bloggers offer a special “thank you” for your brilliant execution once again, just in time for Halloween! Trust me, you need to buy; one you will not want to miss; A wild twisted ride!

🎧 AUDIOBOOK: I was delighted to revisit WONDERLAND again in audio format narrated by the fabulous narrator, Eunice Wong for a highly entertaining performance for all voices.

I read WONDERLAND for the first time when it came out in 2015 and landed on my Top books of 2015. I was introduced for the first time to Jennifer with The Butcher in 2014 when I started my blog and grabbed this gem from NetGalley and was blown away. Top Books of 2014. I then went back and grabbed the audiobooks, Freak and Creep, and then Wonderland.

Since these have been a huge fan and have read all her books. I would not miss a book! They are all 5-star WINNERS. A huge fan, I anxiously await her next book, and she is so much fun to follow on social media. A TOP thriller author!

A special thank you to #MacmillanAudio and #NetGalley for a gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Review Posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Audio Pub Date: April 11, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
April 2023 Must-Read Books

Although this book was published as an e-book in 2015, the audiobook is being released this year. I have always loved amusement parks, and after listening to and loving Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven, I realized that I love thrillers that take place in them! Wonderland is no different. I enjoyed this twisty thriller that takes place at an amusement park in Seaside, WA called Wonderland. I did not predict the ending, which is always a pleasant surprise. The narrator was excellent.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC. Although this book was originally released in 2015, I never had the chance to read it. I was happy to be able to listen to Wonderland on audio. I’ve read a few of Jennifer’s books and I’ve really enjoyed them, but I’d say Wonderland was my least favorite. It had a promising premise, but it fell flat for me. This was more of a thriller than horror and it had more police procedural than I normally like in my books.

All that being said, I enjoy Jennifer’s writing and I’ll continue to read her books!

Wonderland
Jennifer Hillier
4⭐️

You can always count on Jennifer Hillier to write creepy, cringy stories. Wonderland was all that and then some.

What a perfect setting for this atmospheric tale. The dark and twisty story sucked me in right away. My jaw hit the floor several times. And there may have been a few WTF’s uttered. 😆

Hillier does a fantastic job creating a flawed mix of characters that continuously misdirect you. I didn’t trust anyone and suspected everyone. Except of course for the actual killer. Well done Hillier. Well done.

I loved the we get to see an old friend from the past. If you haven’t read Creep or Feak, you might want to do so first. There’s a spoiler.

I absolutely did not see that ending coming. 🤯 Love it when that happens.

What I liked;
🤡 Action Packed Thriller
🤡 Whodunnit Mystery
🤡 Compelling Cast of Characters
🤡 Small-Town Creepy Amusement Park

The narrator did a fantastic job bringing this creepy tale to life.

Originally published 2015, the audiobook will be available 4/11/23. If you haven’t read I would recommend, if you have, a reread with the audio would be perfect!

I was so excited to be an early listener! Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a big fan of horror, and when I found this one on NetGalley, I knew I needed it. The twisting, mutating grossness of this tale helps to add to the atmospheric horror of Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier. All of the twists and turns put me in the mood for autumn and Halloween, and I was so happy to have had the opportunity to read and review this work of art. If you were a fan of American Horror Story: Freak Show, then this is the audiobook for you!

Well this creepy but we'll written book provides an insight into theme parks and I bet there are many moms that will be reconsidering letting their children get summer jobs there. Insidiously creepy, Wonderland had my mind jumping all over the place, suspecting any and everybody of killing the Wonder workers. Vanessa Castro moved to Seaside to escape her own scandalous past taking up the post of Deputy Chief of Police in the small town famous for Wonderland, a magical funfair that is the only thing keeping Seaside afloat. Her first day on the job must be one of the worst in history. The majority of the force resent an outsider being brought into the position and do little to make her welcome; there is a decomposing body found in the main thoroughfare of Wonderland; and the guy she picked up in a bar the previous evening for a night of casual sex is her liaison at Wonderland. Then another boy, also a Wonder Worker, is reported missing.....and it turns out that he is not the first. Over the years several have gone missing, all Wonder Workers, all virtually clones of one another. Full of twists and turns the reader will be left guessing until the end.

4 stars

In this case, it really is possible to judge a book by its scary clown face cover; this is a creepy one!

Though this book was originally published several years ago, its reissue comes with a great audio version, and I recommend this highly. The narrator really brings to life not only the characters readers want to root for but also those we want to run from (and there are a few of those).

Vanessa is back in the town where she grew up, but this time, it's as a ranking member of local law enforcement and as the mom of a teenage daughter, Ava, who has followed in the footsteps of everyone who's ever been to town and taken a part-time job at Wonderland. As all good amusement parks do, Wonderland comes with its own set of urban legends, but it becomes clear that there may be some disturbing truths behind some of these!

This is creepy without question, and folks who find clowns and dolls disturbing in general will get some really good '80s B movie content here. I came in a fan of Hillier's more recent work, and I'm so glad that Macmillan Audio appeared with a widget for this book. I had missed it previously, and this was a very fun listen. Props to Hillier's continued creep factor, and here's hoping Macmillan Audio makes the audio widget more of a thing in the future: loving that trend!

8/10

Audiobook ARC provided by publisher (not that the story has been out in ebook for years but the audiobook format is new)

A Seattle cop moves from the city to a small town with her 2 kids. The only thing keeping the town on the map is Wonderland, the local amusement park, who's founder has a questionable reputation. On her first day of the job Vanessa gets a call that a body has been found at the amusement park, and that is only the beginning...

This is a thriller full of twists and turns and all the creepiness' you could ask for. I do wish some elements of Vanessa's past were a little more flushed out though as they are interesting but more or less just referenced in passing.

The narration of the audiobook was done very well, as was its production.

Read/Listen If You Like:
🤡 Thrillers/Mysteries
🤡 Lots of Misdirection
🤡 Connected Crimes
🤡 Creepy Amusement Parks

Book Review:
“Another dead body at the amusement park,” she said. “Wholesome family fun at its finest.”

I have quickly found that if Jennifer Hillier writes it, I will most definitely be reading it. This is my third Jennifer Hillier book and it certainly did not disappoint. At this point in my journey into reading her backlog I have to say this has been my favorite thus far.

I love how she plays with pointing fingers and casting doubt for the reader to truly keep you guessing. I love when I don’t figure out the ending to a thriller before it’s revealed even if I got other nuggets right along the way as that means it was well written enough to not be predictable.

If you are a fan of (or hate like me) creepy amusement parks, trying to figure out who did it with crimes, and how crimes are or are not connected this one is definitely for you.

⚠️ You may want to sure to check out multiple trigger warnings associated before starting this one.

Thank you to the publisher for my ALC of the new audiobook of this 2015 Jennifer Hillier release!

There is something sinister about a carnival, even in the light of day, at night, it's terrifying. Wonderland is the pride of Sea Side, Oregon. The carnival has a dark past, involving child sex abuse, but the park has come a long way since then and it's the biggest employer and tourist draw in the area. Too bad, then that brand new deputy chief of police, Vanessa Castro's first day on the job involves both a dead body and a missing teen at Wonderland. It turns out that there have been a number of missing teen boys in town going back years. How does Wonderland fit into the picture? Vanessa digs into the past to find the answers, keeping in mind her own teenage daughter is now working at the park. Jennifer Hillier deserves a lot more attention for her nail biting thrillers
This is an audio release of a book Hillier released in 2015