DNFing at 16%. I once loved this author but her last few books have been incredibly lackluster. I’m just tired of thrillers trying way too hard and this one felt like that to me. I think you need to SHOW the reader questions such as “who did it? Why was the girl on the road? Who was chasing us?” Rather than literally writing those questions out in text. And to boot I didn’t care about the characters at all. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make them mysterious with dark pasts. Thanks anyway for the ARC.

Thank you so much to Berkley for the ARC!

I will never not read a new Simone St. James book! She has a way of writing the most insanely readable books that keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I haven't been able to find another author that mixes in a sprinkle of supernatural but still makes it feel realistic like she does.

As a 90's baby, I love that this story took place primarily in the mid 90s before cell phones and GPS systems were commonplace as it makes the story even more realistic! I don't read super creepy stuff at all and thought this was the perfect amount of creepy for me! It was enough that I HAD to know what was happening next, but not too much that I was scared to read it while I was home alone!

I truly haven't had the beginning of a book hook me as hard and fast as this one did in a long time! Imagine newlyweds on their way to the honeymoon of their dreams when they come across a hitchhiker that disrupts EVERTHING!

I really loved every character in this book. Simone did such a phenomenal job crafting the weirdest and most unique characters each with secrets and mysterious backstories. You couldn't pay me to visit the town of Coldlake Falls!

Read this if you enjoy:

-Small towns
-Unsolved murders
-Big twists
-Immaculate creepy vibes
-Layered characters

This book will be available for purchase March 5th!

4.5 stars rounded up for GR!

I have loved all of Simone St. James' books and this one is no different. As a 90's kid, the 90's vibes are exactly what I needed right now. Engaging characters. I would recommend anyone read this. So. Good

A young couple on their way to their honeymoon comes across a young woman on the side of the road. When they take her in their car, they realize she’s bleeding and running from someone. After she’s dropped at the hospital, they begin investigating the road she was found on and it’s violent history.

I didn’t love St. James last book but am a huge fan of Broken Girls and Sundown Motel. It took me about halfway to get hooked on this one, but I did really enjoy it. I loved the supernatural aspect, especially because I wasn’t expecting it (don’t ask why; I should have!). The nineties atmosphere attracted me to the plot I love how it was leaned into so you really felt that time period.

“This place was wrong and dead. It was the worst road in America. It deserved to be destroyed and plowed under, replaced with an ugly freeway.”

Murder Road comes out 3/5.

April and Eddie are newlyweds who get lost late at night while driving to their honeymoon destination. They both have an eerie feeling and none of them can recall exactly how they got lost. Suddenly, they see a young woman walking aimlessly by the side of the road in pitch darkness. They offer her a ride. She quietly accepts and gets into the car. That’s when they see all the blood on her clothes.



This one had me hooked from the very first page! It was so creepy and enigmatic! Just as with every of Simone St. James’ books, this one is dark, scary and super interesting from start to finish. I love how the author always includes us -the weirdos who enjoy reading and researching true crime cases- in her books, managing to create lovely and lovable characters in the most obscure situations.

Unlike her previous books, this one left me with a few things that didn’t seem to quite fit, but those things were minimal and did not affect how much I enjoyed reading this book.

Four stars!!

I made it about 25% of the way in and really felt no pressing desire to continue. I love a good Evil Town story, but it took a while to really get going. I'd recommend other books by St. James over this one.

From the very beginning this book pulls you in. It sits somewhere between mystery and supernatural and easily keeps you guessing. The experiences the two lead characters have are intense and then at the same time you are learning more about their pasts - which are equally engaging! I love a mystery within a mystery. The characters are all so fleshed out and real. You feel like you’re in this small town, eating lunch with them in the heat of the summer, trying to figure out what is going on. I feel like this book will stay with me. Highly recommend!!
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received this ARC from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. This paranormal mystery in 1995 flows nicely. April and Eddie are on their way to their honeymoon and find themselves lost. They pickup a hitchhiker and become stuck in a small town for a crime they have not committed. I loved the nods to the nostalgia of the period. April and Eddie were likable characters and the secondary characters rounded out the vibe of the book. While the story progressed a bit slow, I will continue to read Simone St. James as her ghost stories continue to be some of my favorites. For once, this story didn’t jump time periods, it stayed solidly in 1995.

I quite literally jumped for joy when I got to read this book early. And it was incredible. So creepy throughout, lots of fun twists and turns, and some super lovable characters to really bring the story together. I loved it and cannot recommend it enough. Go ahead and preorder this one because you are going to want to read this one as soon as possible!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's Michigan in 1995, and Eddie and April are supposed to be on their honeymoon. Instead they're lost on a back road. They see a hitchhiker and pick her up, only to find out the girl is seriously injured. They rush her to the hospital, pursued by a scary truck. When they get there, it's assumed that Eddie and April attacked the hitchhiker. It doesn't help that they are both keeping secrets, even from each other.

Murder Road was enjoyable, and I couldn't stop reading. My only gripe is procedural: several times I was taken out of the action by thinking "that's not what a cop would do." Not that I would know.

Simone St James has done it again. Murder Road is another ghost story so good it’s chilling. This book has so many unknowns that you just keep pulling threads loose until it all comes into focus. Years worth of unsolved murders finally have an answer even if they sound completely insane. You will not be disappointed with this read.

Another solid supernatural thriller from Simone St. James, Murder Road tells the story of newlyweds April and Eddie who take a wrong turn on their way to the small beach town where they have booked a few days as a honeymoon. On a creepy deserted road, they see a young woman hitchhiking and when they pick her up, discover she has been brutally stabbed. Unfamiliar with their surroundings, they seek a hospital but are followed briefly by a truck – possibly containing the murderer- but are able to escape. But their good Samaritan deed turns wrong when suddenly they are the prime suspects in the killing of the young woman. They soon discover that this stretch of road is the scene of several murders, and the subject of a local legend – if you see the “lost girl,” a local ghost, you’ll likely become the next victim. Placed by the police in the B&B home of Bea, the widow of a local policeman, they discover in her an unlikely ally against the police’s accusations, as they try to solve the recent murder and the case of the original lost girl, who seems to be haunting them both.

I’ll start by saying I am a HUGE Simone St. James fan. Have overtly loved every single book by her- except this one. I don’t know, it just didn’t have that THING that her other books have. It felt very forced.

The premise is great, a couple driving see an injured girl on the side of the road they try to help? Only to be accused when she inevitably dies? Great, let’s do it. It’s everything from there that gets a bit wonky for me.

Invariably the plot seems a bit easy to figure out pretty quickly. This doesn’t mean that I won’t be anxiously awaiting Simone’s next book- because I will.

A fantastic atmospheric thriller with a spooky paranormal base that keeps you hooked till the very end. I never say no to a Simone St James book.

I have liked other books by this author. She really seems to understand ambiance and this novel is no different. I found a few things a bit unbelievable, like how in the beginning the main characters decide to not tell the police about a truck they've seen. That was so wholly unbelievable, I almost put the book down. Once I got past that, I enjoye dhte quick-paced mystery.

I received this from the publisher for review. Wow I enjoyed this! St. James is at the top of her game with this new book. This has easily gone to the top of my favorites of Simone St.James books. The story was so intriguing it really kept me guessing until the end. It was very paranormal heavy and was really scary at some points, which I love! I did not see the plot twist coming either which is another big win for me. I highly recommend this if you love a good ghost story that will keep you guessing.

Murder Road is one of the best by Simone St. James. If you enjoyed her Sun Down Motel, this is the read for you!

In 1995 a young couple find themselves lost on a dark road, they pick up an injured hitchhiker who they take to a nearby hospital. While in route, a truck gives pursuit. After the hitchhiker dies, April and Eddie are the new suspects in a series of murders that have occurred to young people on that dark road.

Can they prove their innocence? Can they shed light on who the killer may be and what haunts the road after all these years?

An excellent thriller that ties together a murder mystery, psychological suspense, and a bit of the supernatural. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I've read and enjoyed pretty much everything that Simone St. James has put out, and this is no exception. I don't think it's the scariest thing she's ever written - in fact, I wanted more of the ghost and more scary parts - but I liked the characters and the pacing of the story. Probably closer to 3.5 stars for me, but rounded up.

A great take on a somewhat classic legend. We all have heard to some extent the hitchhiker ghost story about the sad lady on a deserted street. You know the one? This book took that story and made a murder investigation about it with a paranormal underlayer.

I had to keep reminding myself this takes place in the 90s because I kept telling the characters to look on their cell and internet lmao

Altogether, this was a good story. A little bit too easy once we got to the juicy bits but still an interesting story.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy!

Spooky murder novel taking place in the 90s in Michigan…it’s like Simone wrote this one for me!
This story follows a young couple, April and Eddie, immediately after their wedding as they embark on a honeymoon in a small resort town. When a wrong turn leads them in the opposite direction, they encounter a hitchhiker…bleeding heavily…and as they race her to a hospital, an ominous truck is right on their tail. The instant the hitchhiker dies, they’re suspects 1 & 2, but with a history of mysterious murders on that same road, is another force at play? Or is a serial killer creeping around Coldlake Falls?
This was a good suspense novel that had me holding my breath at the end!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This comes out 3/5/24!