Second book of 2024 was another hit. I mostly listened to audio for this one and I freaking loved it. Definitely don’t let the YA part of this book scare you away, I think the only real time I noticed I was reading YA was when their age was brought up. This book just gave me the heebeejeebees (is that how you spell it? 😂). The stitcher just really freaked me out and when they described sewing stuff…🤢. I just can’t believe what the young characters in this book do. I also loved getting their backstories and how the stitcher had touched their families lives. Overall we are off to a creepy, solid start to the year

Whew! What a wild ride! Darcy Coates is an auto read author and this one did not disappoint.

Abby and her friends live in a depressing town and dream of escape. They all follow specific rules. Why? Because people go missing and red thread marks bad things. The police know something bad is happening but they are powerless to stop it. Can Abby and the others save the town?

Where He Can't Find You follows two sisters as they navigate life in their small town. Except their town is plagued by the Stitcher. What and who exactly is the Stitcher? Why and how does the Stitcher pick victims? Are the town youth ever going to be safe? These are questions answered in this thriller.

This novel really took me by surprise. I believe that it is Darcy Coates's official entry into young adult literature and what a start it is. I mean truly this was such a great mystery and horror novel. I was flipping pages furiously in order to discover what had happened to these characters and to solve the mystery set within the pages. Readers everywhere are going to love this and don't worry it has all the makings of the classic Coates novel. Horror, mystery, great characters, suspense, and impending doom combine to create a truly one-of-a-kind story.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t find a good horror story, here comes Darcy Coates with Where He Can’t Find You. I have loved all of the stories Darcy Coates writes! This story pulls you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the final question: Do you want to see something good? If you’re a fan of Darcy Coates you must read this!!
Don't forget, keep your windows shut and never go out alone in the dark

This was my second book by Darcy Coates and it did not disappoint. If you love the supernatural, don't delay and pick this up today!

Abby Ward lives in a town where people disappear. When the bodies are found, they have been dismembered and put back together. Is The Stitcher human or something more?

They know him as The Stitcher—a serial killer that snatches people up and then leaves them in pieces. Sometimes stitched to another person. Sometimes, The Stitcher doesn’t throw them away at all. Abby Ward would know the latter better than most. Her father was taken by The Stitcher and no part of him has ever been found. Not that Abby’s searching, anyway.

But when her little sister, Hope, gets taken, Abby can’t help but go after her. She’s really all Abby has left besides her friends. And what kind of sister would she be if she were to lose Hope to the darkness?
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So when I say that this book was absolutely horrifying, I mean I was literally jumping at any sudden noise and refused to read this in the dark. Coates scared the shit out of me with this IT/Jeepers Creepers plot, so much I had to put my Kindle down and take a few deep breaths before going on. But I was hooked and had to know what happened to Hope and what the hell kind of beastie The Stitcher was no matter how freaked out I got (which was a lot).

Coates’s writing was sharp, but she knew how to draw out the suspense of the moment before showing the reveal in a bunch of gory detail. She absolutely blew me away with the lore of The Stitcher and how the whole town had been haunted by him for decades. And the ending was absolute *chef’s kiss*. Absolutely, 100% recommend!

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

Wow this book gave me spine tingling chills!

The Stitcher takes victims and sometimes the missing people's bodies show back up with various parts stitched up with red thread.

A group of friends tries to keep rules about not being alone or out at night and especially to stay away from Charles Vickers. When one of them goes missing, they track down the town's mystery and go after the Stitcher. So much blood, gore, and red thread!

I enjoyed the creative aspect of this book, but it was definitely intense. It took me awhile to read since I read it in smaller chunks. I could see this book being turned into a horror flick.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

"Where He Can't Find You" is like a suspenseful rollercoaster with a side of creepy. Abby Ward's town is the poster child for weird happenings—people disappearing, bodies stitched back together. Enter the Stitcher, the stuff of nightmares. Abby and her sis live by strict rules, but when Hope gets snatched, all bets are off.

The frantic quest to get Hope back cranks up the tension. The whole cat-and-mouse game had me holding my breath. The tunnels under their home? Spooky as heck! The concept is wicked, and the Stitcher is downright bone-chilling. But, here's the scoop—sometimes the pacing felt like a heartbeat monitor with random flatlines. And the characters, while cool, could've used some more depth for that emotional hit.

The resolution tied up loose ends, but I was craving a tad more complexity. Still, "Where He Can't Find You" is a solid pick if you're into thrillers with a dash of horror and a ticking clock.

This isn’t going to be a great review and man I’m really mad about it. I was really hoping I was going to give this 5 stars, but unfortunately it didn’t make it there. This had everything I wanted in it, but it just did not deliver.

Ok so the first thing about this book was the thrilling part. I was so excited to hear about all the weird things that were happening with this string. But when I finally read it, it was nothing like I thought it would be. Yes the strings mean something, but we don’t find out what they mean until the like middle. And then the reason was just because something was found. But they never described it or anything. It just wasn’t scary. And I was so disappointed.

I guess it was the plot that I was mostly mad about. It was a thriller, but it never felt like one. Even when they were finding out what was going on and when they were trying to find something that was taken. I think it was because there were so many different POVs. We never got enough time to REALLY know anyone and I hated that. There was someone who believed, someone who didn’t, someone who had a mom that was in a certain situation at the time and we never got an in-depth look at any of it.

The myth or the legend or whatever it was was the best thing about this book. It was creepy and chilling and I wanted so much more of THAT feeling. Unfortunately that never came. Even when they went down to the “place,” it was more like them going exploring and then it was done. There was nothing that popped out at them or anything. Now I do understand that the horror trope for this one was body horror, but there was nothing else scary about it . And that bothered me. Especially since they didn’t even do the explanation until later in the book. Idk, it was just annoying.

The characters were ok. Like I said I only liked the legend, but even that person only was shown for that one time only. I would have at least made the lady the person to know the info they needed. But the author chose something else. I don’t really remember all the different POVs, but that’s telling in and of itself. They all seemed the same, and if I didn’t know their opinion on some things, I’m not sure I would have been able to tell them apart. Hell even the one that didn’t believe was learning more quickly than the rest of the book. And Lordt, don’t get me started on the way all of them didn’t go find them together. There is no way that should have happened. I was appalled that they let it get there.

This wasn’t the book I thought it was, and that’s ok. It wasn’t bad, it still held my attention and I was eager to find out what happened next, but man, this was disappointing. The characters were terrible even though we knew nothing about them, and there was really nothing that was actually scary or thrilling about this. Yeah the trope is body horror, but it could have shown more of that. It was hardly in there and that annoyed me. Yet it wasn’t enough for me to stop reading.

Where He Can’t Find You is a horrifying young adult mystery with heavy Stephen King small town vibes and a super unique big boss villain. Nicknamed the Stitcher, something or someone is making people disappear, with their bodies discovered days later, all stitched back together in wrong ways with bright red thread. That concept alone was enough to get me to request this one, since I love a creative villain, small town vibes, and the lore that haunts these small spaces. I had only read one other Darcy Coates, Dead of Winter, and I had an absolute blast with it. But it was an adult title so I didn’t know how this author would handle young adult writing. And honestly, this was pretty gnarly for a young adult book and I loved her for it. For me young adult books don’t have to tamp down the horror to qualify as ya horror, they just handle themes more relevant for young people- like growing apart from your first real friend group and wanting to leave your hometown after high school but not lose the people you love. I really enjoy the way this author writes horror, gore, tension, and mystery so I’m excited to start digging into her backlist!

I'll be posting my review on my instagram @boozehoundbookclub later this month

I’ve loved everything Darcy writes and grabbed a copy of this book for my own library as soon as it came out! A suspenseful thrill that makes you question EVERYONE

This book was wonderfully creepy. The author was able to suck me into a world where evil lurks in every corner, and there is nothing you can do to save yourself. I didn't even mind that it was a YA horror novel. Usually, they tend to be too mild for my tastes, but this book gave me all the horror vibes I could want. If you are searching for a novel that will make you keep the light on before heading to bed, I recommend this book. I give it a solid 4/5 stars.

This was a strange book that left me feeling very creeped out.
Overall the town's apathy towards a possible serial killer was a little disturbing and I didn't like how no one seemed to care that people went missing. Including the sheriff.
When Abby's sister goes missing she is determined to find her and will do so at any cost. I liked this group of friends, their loyalty to one another, their gumption and determination to find a serial killer.
This book was very suspenseful and this kept me turning the pages to find out what was going on..

I know that many of my students will love this one, but it was just so-so for me. I wish the author would have gone into more detail regarding the origin story of the Stitcher. 3 out of 5.

It becomes hard to fall asleep when you know what lives underneath your town.

Where He Can't Find You - Darcy Coates

Quick Rundown
Abby and her friends live by a strict set of rules, because living in Doubtful is dangerous. There's a serial killer, people go missing and it's like they're forgotten. You know when the killer is near; technology goes haywire, animals are born sick then people go missing and when they're found they're taken apart.


Final Thoughts
LOVED THE ATMOSPHERE Darcy brought in this one. This small town had me second guessing myself at every single turn. This book was geared towards a younger audience, but definitely on the scarier and creepier side of this spectrum.

This morning as I do, I tried one book and it turned out to be a bust. So I clicked into another that piqued my interest and wow, the second one I tried had me hooked from the very first page. That book was Darcy Coates's Where He Can't Find You. I had previously tried one book Hunted from this author which unfortunately turned out to be a DNF. This one however, was the complete opposite and was an amazing read that blurs fiction with a feel of fact. In a small town named Doubtful, people go missing and when they do they often disappear out of thin air and then their bodies turn up dismembered and stitched with other people's body parts in red thread. If you find a spot all covered in red thread, it indicates that a dead body is near - a victim of a serial killer or a supernatural being called the Stitcher. Abby and her friends have grown up with the rules and try to follow them to protect their families and each other from becoming a victim of the Stitcher. What happens though when Abby's younger sister Hope is the next person to be snatched? Abby is determined to do what no one else has ever done and search for the Stitcher's lair and bring her sister back. The journey will lead Abby and her friends nicknamed The Jackrabbits on a historic journey as they devour historical records, talk to past people involved - a past victim and ex-cop and in a way save their town from being harmed by the Stitcher. This was a fast-paced novel and had vibes of It - Stephen King and Slenderman. Besides the crazy dead bodies descriptions, this book is pretty much a clean YA novel as well. If you are looking for a good old-fashioned teen horror novel similar to those of Lois Duncan's and Christopher Pike's then Darcy Coates is the author for you.

Darcy Coates strikes again! I was little nervous about this being a YA book, but it is so well written and gripping. And in classic Coates fashion, the horror and gore are still abundant.

I would say that I was able to predict the ending, but not confidently. I had numerous directions I thought I could go and one was right, so she definitely caught me off-guard in some ways. Such an awesome read.

A wonderful YA Horror novel from a perpetual favorite, Darcy Coates! This was a well structured, enjoyable read with a plot that kept me hooked beginning to end. I’m not usually one for YA, personally, but these characters delighted and engaged the reader on so many levels. The skill of the author was clearly on display, beginning to end.

Worthy of a YA horror movie!

Abby and her high school group of friends are on top of missing or dead persons in their small town of Doubtful. They stick together and help keep each other safe from the serial killer that lurks around their homes. The group has established rules based on a century of missing people and killings. The town residents have learned to always lock their doors and windows, to never be outside at night and to always have someone with them. When Abby’s sister Hope is pulled from her bedroom window one night, Abby and her friends must use everything they’ve learned to stay alive as they search for Hope and discover the terrifying truth.

Likes/dislikes: The book is definitely material worthy of a young adult horror movie. I liked the narrative of secondary characters. I grew to care about the two main characters and appreciated their loyalty.
Language: PG-13 for 10 swears and no f-words.
Mature content: G
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: falls to white.