This was my first horror book, and honestly I was shocked when I realized this was YA. The crime scene details were pretty gruesome, and this book gave me the total creeps... in the best way! However, I think if I had read this as a young adult, I would have had nightmares for months. As an adult, I loved the town of Doubtful. Coates did such a great job of creating an atmospheric setting. Also, can we talk about the mom?! Extra creepy! IYKYK. This is the perfect book to binge late into the evening. If you like IT or Stranger Things, I think you enjoy this book!

Where He Can't Find You is another nightmare inducing addition to Darcy Coates horror collection. This book may have teenage protagonists and initially have a YA feel, but the author doesn't mess around with delivering the thrills, scares, and gruesome details. 


Doubtful, Illinois has been plagued by disappearances and grisly murders for decades. Legend credits the crimes to a mysterious creature nicknamed the Stitcher. The bizarre and horrific occurrences have gone on for so long that the town has come to accept it as almost normal. A small group of friends decide to once and for all get to the bottom of the vicious killings and free their community from the entity holding them all hostage. 


Darcy Coates has such a gift for crafting terrifying imagery, slowly building tension, and chilling atmosphere. The villain she created in this book is truly creepy and enough to fuel a few bad dreams. This story had me glancing over my shoulder and turning on an extra light or two. Where He Can't Find You reminded me of all the reasons to fear the dark, keep the doors locked, and never go out at night alone. This is easily one of my favorites from Darcy Coates. Her writing just keeps getting better and better.


Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me a copy to read and review.

This book was super creepy! I clap my hands for this one, no book has been written so beautifully and creepy where I have been so creeped out!!! I will definitely be raving about this one for a while!

Rules ….
*DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.
*DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.
*DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU
I am an adult, and this book had me terrified. Who says YA Thriller/Horror isn’t as scary as adult?
Set in the town of Doubtful, IL - a place that doesn’t seem to allow you to leave. A town full of mysterious vanishing, that go unexplained (and yet no one seems to question why). Some will eventually be found; others never will. Some will be whole, some in pieces, while others … the bodies will be put back together in unseemly ways with red thread. The town has a curfew, you don’t go out at night, and if you do you do not go alone! Who or what is the “Stitcher”? When the Stitcher is up to no good, things in town seem to go haywire. Cars won’t start, lights go out, TV and cell service get “the jitters”, people have nightmares and start acting strange. When a group of teenagers, who call themselves the Jackrabbits, has one of their own taken by the Stitcher, they will stop at nothing to get her back. Buckle up for an intense ride through the darkness in Doubtful, IL.
This book was quite disturbing and unsettling, yet I couldn’t stay away.

Darcy Coates does YA horror right! While this crew of teenagers seemed a tad too gullible in the beginning of the story, they definitely steal the show by midway and I found myself rooting hard for them by the end. Very Stranger Things-like. This creepy little town deserves a series. Well done!

Social posts to come.

I just finished Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates. I have read several of her books. This one was one of her creepiest by far, in a good horror book way! Its different and kept you guessing who or what the Stitcher was.. I really liked it.

Darcey Coates really never disappoints with her books ! I always recommend her for anyone looking for a spooky read. This story was packed full of twists and turns with the perfect amount of suspense. I didn’t see the ending coming but it was so perfect. 10/10 please queen Darcey Coates never stop writing books. 😂🙏🏻

Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors. I was thrilled when I was gifted an advanced copy to honestly review! Thank you #netgalley and #sourcebooks!

This is a YA Horror, but don't let that fool you. The Stitcher is... terrifying. So much that I only wanted to read this during the daytime. All of Darcy's books are so chilling and well written. I really enjoyed this book. It will be available on November 7, 2023!

I can’t say enough good things about this book! It was scary, it was nerve wracking, it had me on the edge of my seat! This was the perfect book for spooky season. The town of Doubtful has a dark secret. Someone or something is taking people and they’re called “The Stitcher”. A group of kids is determined to figure out what is happening, and what a wild ride it is!

This book is perfect for spooky season. I really liked the flow of the story and was able to get through this quite quickly. I also enjoyed the different perspectives and how they were woven within the book that just made it so distinct and unique.
If you want a spooky YA thriller/horror with a town story and creature that takes children, this one is for you!

I recently just got into reading Darcy Coates books this year but she has quickly became one of my favorite authors. Her stories are so intriguing and her writing is flawless. This book was no different. I was intrigued from the beginning and I couldn’t go through the pages fast enough. Highly recommend this book.

Darcy Coates does it again with her YA debut!

Rule #1: Stay indoors after nightfall, or you'll be taken.
Rule #2: Red thread means a Stitcher victim is close by.
Rule #3: Stay as far away from Charles Vickers as you can.

Those were the rules the inhabitants of Doubtful, Illinois lived by to keep themselves safe from the murderous creature known as "The Stitcher." Abby and her friends had even more rules to keep themselves safe, and even then, her sister is stolen from her own house while she is sleeping. Abby and her friends then go on a rescue mission for her sister and along the way discover who The Stitcher really is, and why he has never been caught after all these years.

This was another stunning book by Darcy Coates, the only author who has ever managed to scare me. This book gave me nightmares that I, myself, was one of The Stitchers victims and trying to escape. I was shocked that a book was able to do that as I read many horror books and have never had that happen before. That speaks volumes to the horror that Coates is able to create, so immersive that one can find themselves becoming a part of the book itself. I also enjoyed her use of the "Not Deer" that troubles Appalachia, though the book does not take part in the region, it helps to bring in folklore that brings the story to life. Darcy Coates will be remembered as a master of horror one day among the likes of Stephen King.

Thank you netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an eARC of this book, all opinions are my own :) Quotes are from an uncorrected text and may not be accurate to the final publication.

The town of Doubtful lives in fear of "The Stitcher", a murderer thats signature red thread binds together a mismatch of bodies of the victims.

The town is filled with the posters of missing people, once taken they wont show up in one piece, the bodies will be connected to other victims which makes it hard to identify who's who.

A local group of teens dubbed The Jackrabbits are fully invested in the murders and suspect that the creepy resident Charles Vickers is to blame. The town leave offerings outside his home in the hopes that he won't choose them as a victim.

One of the teens is taken which leads The Jackrabbits to spring into action to save their own.

I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it either, there's just something about it that I can't quite put my finger on that didn't fully engross me.

Perhaps more backstory of the towns history was needed to fully endorse the terror of The Stitcher.

I've read a few books by Darcy Coates and enjoy her works but this one has been my least favourite.

Another amazing book by Darcy Coates, definitely a favourite author. This book was dark and disturbing and at times felt like more an adult book than YA but i see that as a good thing. I loved the whole story of the towns history and the reveal about the stitcher. It had the perfect ending. The only small thing that bothered me was the formatting in some places but as an ARC thats to be expected, I’m sure this will be fixed in the published version.

Where He Can't Find You is under the YA category but it's graphic, gory and shocking! Definitely for more mature audiences but definitely really well written and creepy. Although the characters were teens, they were definitely more mature in the aspect that there was no usual teenage drama. This book and the creepy folklore behind the Stitcher definitely gave me It vibes and I loved it! The Stitcher and the backstory and folklore surrounding it were really fascinating! The author describes the way it kills and stitches people in an extremely gory manner that makes it feel like you're reading a very gory R rated movie. This is a really creepy and well written horror story and it will make you flinch and leave chills in your bones!

In the small town of doubtful there are some rules

Don’t walk alone, or the stitcher will find you.

Don’t stay out late, or the stitcher will take you.

Don’t close your eyes, or the stitcher will remake you.

Abby and her friends are used to people vanishing, and when they’re found, they’ve been dismembered and stitched together in unnatural ways.

When Abby’s younger sister goes missing, she is desperate to get her back. Can Abby and her friends find her before it’s too late?

I love Darcy Coates and was super excited for her new YA Horror book. I just recently finished the Haunting of Leigh Bardo and loved it so had high hopes. However, despite the excellent writing, this one just fell flat for me. There was just something about it that is hard to put my finger on but didn’t work for me. I never got invested in the story and I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I really did enjoy the strange small-town vibes. This book was pretty vivid, but the characters felt that they were younger than the stated age, so it was an interesting dilemma. The writing is so creepy and tense and very chilling.

If you are looking for the perfect YA Horror book for this spooky season, you will want to check this one out.

3.5 stars rounded up

Darcy Coates's latest YA horror

In Where He Can't Find You a group of teens take on a serial killer in a desolate small town. The Stitcher abducts his victims and the bodies are later found stitched together with other bodies in unnatural ways.
Darcy Coates is consistently great and this may be one of my favorites. She utilizes several classic horror tropes: kids going up against unspeakable horror, serial killers, body horror, urban legends, and small town isolation. The characters are well-developed with deep relationships and the pacing is quick. There are several
moments of nail-biting suspense interspersed with truly terrifying imagery. I was a little surprised that this was labeled YA because there are plenty of gory and disturbing scenes.
I was a bit worried about the ending/resolution but it was executed perfectly.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I'm giving this 5 stars because Darcy Coates is a 5 star author. The formatting of the advanced copy made it difficult to read so I'll buy it when it comes out and give it another try!

Darcy Coates never fails to deliver! A dark eerie tale that sucks you in and continues to fill you with dread. Read this one with the lights on!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates!