I am a huge fan of Simone St. James and when I read this synopsis of this story and saw it had a paranormal aspect I was so so excited to read this book. Unfortunately it was just a so-so book, I felt the paranormal part was underdeveloped, I didn’t get that creep factor out of it that I wanted. I did like how the author tied everything together in the end connecting the characters to the past. It is an easy fast read, but overall it left me just wanting more.

Greetings from Outlier Island!!!

I want to start this off by saying that I loved The Broken Girls, The Sun Down Motel and The Book of Cold Cases. I fully expected to have the same experience with this one. In fact, upon learning the title and reading the synopsis, I expected to enjoy it even more than those previous novels, as it sounded like this was going to be toeing over the line into my favorite genre: horror.

Unfortunately, here we are, 3-stars. My lowest rated St. James to-date; such a mixed bag for me. I'm sad about it, but feel like it is bound to be a one off. It has to be. I find it hard to believe that it's not. For me, this felt completely different than her other books and not in a good way. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

I really hadn't read any reviews prior to picking this one up, so after I finished it, shocked by how I didn't love it, I scurried over here and was even more shocked to discover I'm almost the only person who didn't love it!

I fully expected to find a mix of reviews. Those who loved it and those who didn't as much. I started to doubt everything. What did I miss? I can understand it's objectively still a good story, but it didn't deliver me the vibes, tension, or mystery I'm accustomed to with this author. I felt I was being generous giving 3-stars, but apparently I am being the biggest Debbie Downer in the book community. So, apologies all around for that.

I am going to move on. I'm going to pretend it never happened. I'm looking forward to whatever Simone St. James writes next. I still love her and her work. For some reason this one just did not work for me. I think it started off bad. I don't want to get too far into it, but the police suspecting these two MCs right away, the way they were treating them for assisting an injured woman was bizarre, to say the least. It was like, what?

It made no sense whatsoever for them to be treated with such hostility. Even though, ultimately we get a bit of an explanation for this, I wasn't buying it. Too little, too late. It felt so contrived on the part of the Officer involved. I think that opening left a sour taste in my mouth that left me judging the rest of the story too harshly. I admit that. I can appreciate some of the aspects of the story, but for me, I just wish it had been told differently.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I gave it a shot and as mentioned, I look forward to more from this author. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion. Even though it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't for you. If it sounds interesting to you, please pick it up. You'd do well to just ignore everything I just wrote. You most likely will not find yourself on Outlier Island with me. But if you do, bring drinks!

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I love you and appreciate you.

This is the third book I’ve read by Simone St. James, and it’s safe to say she’s solidified herself as my favorite thriller author. The way she weaves real people and paranormal aspects into each of her stories always astounds me. I try to guess where each of her plots will go, and I’m never right. With Murder Road, she created such a spooky atmosphere with Atticus Line, that it’ll stick with me for a long time. Both April and Eddie had enough things they were hiding from each other and to us as readers to keep me thoroughly entertained. If you like spooky stories that have you wondering if a person committed these murders, or if it was something paranormal, I would highly recommend it!

I really liked this book! I thought it was really spooky and had a lot of twists and turns. I haven’t loved other books by this author, but this one made me have hope in her again! This is perfect fit for readers who crave a supernatural thriller and those who like to be drawn into the eerie world of unexplained murders, ghostly apparitions, and small-town secrets!

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I love Simone St. James’s books. I’ve read The Haunting of Maddy Clare, The Broken Girls, and The Sundown Motel, all of which were excellent. This story was just as excellent as the others. I love that her books are horror-adjacent but still fit into the thriller category. Best of both worlds!

In 1995, Eddie and April are on their honeymoon when they see a bloody woman at the side of the road. They pick her up, take her to the hospital, and then are accused of being her murderers. They know they aren’t but don’t know how to clear their names. As they begin to dig in her death, they uncover more secrets about the stretch of road where they found her.

This story has a lot of great secrets and reveals that I didn’t see coming. Eddie and April are great characters who you really root for, even though they have pasts that they are running or hiding from. Add in a good cop, a stubborn widow, and two nosy teen girls, this book has a great cast of secondary characters. I thought this book was great and will definitely recommend it.

This didn’t feel like a Simone St James book… not what I was hoping for. The storyline was a mess, the characters had unnecessary backstories that had way too much detail, a lot of what was happening seemed random and it wasn’t anything like her precious books. It’s not horrible, but I don’t know if I would ever recommend it for a book club or anything. I love that her books always have paranormal ghost aspects, and this one didn’t really have that. Just the lost girl… and that left me wanting more.

A young couple takes a wrong turn when headed to a resort town for their honeymoon. On the long stretch of highway, they come across a hitchhiker. They stop to help, and soon realize the hitchhiker is injured. When the hitchhiker dies, the couple become the suspects instead of witnesses. As the couple looks into the mysterious town, they discover a series of murders along the highway.

Murder Road is an atmospheric supernatural thriller. Intriguing characters in an eerie setting. Recommended for fans of Simone St. James’s other books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book hooked me from the start being set in the summer of 1995. I remember that time immensely as I graduated HS and was one foot out the door going to LSU 💜💛.
The couple in the story was in their mid twenties just married and was heading to their honeymoon. During the drive, the couple somehow got lost and ended up on a long deserted highway at night. Finally they see a flash of light and realize it’s a girl hitchhiking. Offering her a ride the girl reluctantly gets in and soon after that’s when they realize this girl is in serious trouble but from what or whom and where did she come from?
Finally finding a small town and rushing the girl for help to save her, has put themselves headfirst into a greater danger.

With twists and turns this one was hard to put down. I love all things supernatural. Reading things set in the 90’s is always a trip down memory lane because of all the profound changes in technology that decade provided. Saying that, my only issue was the facts in the story reminded me more of circa 85-92. Maybe rural Louisiana in 1995 was more tech savvy than Michigan? 💜💛

April and Eddie are on their way to spend their honeymoon at a small town resort but they take a wrong turn onto a deserted road and when they spot a young woman hitchhiking they stop to help her. Despite Eddie’s hesitancy to help, they can’t leave this girl alone at night.

Once inside the car, it’s evident the girl has been seriously hurt and they rush to find help. At the same time they become aware of taillights gaining up behind them. It’s a tense ride and unfortunately things don’t get any better once at the hospital as they become primary suspects and are told not to leave town.

As they spend their first days of what was supposed to be their honeymoon at Rose’s inn, the couple starts to find out more about the story behind Atticus Lane and why it’s called the Murder Road. They get involved with some other local town characters and in true Simone St. James fashion there are supernatural elements surrounding the happenings. This was very atmospheric and overall another great read from this author.

For starters…that dedication. As someone who is currently on their 190th read of the year, you get me.
I love how Simone St James masterfully crafts paranormal with a mystery/thriller. Like it’s a mystery, but with a paranormal solution. And I love that. I started this one last night—- and that was a mistake as I started getting spooked.
But I really enjoyed the premise and the follow through. I actually guessed the answers in this one, but I enjoyed following the clues that get us there in the story.
It starts out with this couple going to a resort for their honeymoon. They’re on this road in the middle of nowhere (this book made me grateful I live in a big city), and they see a girl walking alongside the road. This road happens to be known for hitchhikers who go missing. But they didn’t know this. They offer her a ride, and turns out she’s been stabbed so they bring her to the nearest hospital. She dies and suddenly this unassuming couple are the prime suspects for murder.
What doesn’t help is that they both have a checkered past, including secrets they’ve kept from each other. There have been a number of missing cases/deaths along the same road, and the police think it’s a serial killer and that they may have just caught them. Meanwhile, the couple goes on a journey hunting down clues themselves in order to clear their name. The answer is haunting— literally.

Got this one in my BOTM box but also had an egalley copy from NetGalley/Berkley!

Murder Road is my favorite Simone St. James novel so far, and I highly recommend picking it up if you need a spooky thriller with mystery elements to binge this year! Murder Road follows April and Eddie who are a newly married couple embarking on their honeymoon. On the way to their destination, they pick up a wounded hitchhiker who later dies at the local hospital. As the only two witnesses, April and Eddie become the main suspects in the crime.

As the book goes along, the uneasiness picks up and you know something is not right with this stretch of road that April and Eddie found the woman on. I am usually not a fan of supernatural elements in my thrillers, but this really worked for me and felt it only added to the story. I liked the depth we got to see in April and Eddie as characters as well. Simone wove a great story with excellent atmosphere, and I definitely recommend picking this book up!

I love Simone St. James in the way that the Sundown Motel was a 5 star for me. I dislike her in the way that after you read one, you've read them all. This book was a DNF for me. I could not get into it or suspend my disbelief even to give it a fair shot. I think that I may just have to move on from Simone St. James

"I didn't like guns as a kid...Didn't even like them as toys. And there I was, years later, and I knew how to kill people"

this was so disappointing like she really had me in the first 50 pages, the mystery was intriguing and creepy and this town was so weird, and I loved Rose as a character and wanted to read more of her, but oh boy did it go downhill. The two main characters were so dull and their tragic, hidden backstories were so obvious, so many of the "plot twists" were cringy, and everything that happened was oh so convenient. The last 50 pages had me groaning from how awfully things tied up and the fact there was 50 more pages of nothing happening except what we already knew.

This definitely feels like a departure for St. James from her other work. There's a lot of her hallmarks here, but there's also a lot of hallmarks missing. I don't think I liked it as much as her last few, I was able to guess some of the twists, but it was fast paced and kept my attention.

I am SO BUMMED that I didn’t love this one. Simone’s other books have all been huge hits for me and this one just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and it just fell flat for me. I still appreciated the story and the supernatural, I just wish it had more!

A thriller that’s set in Michigan written by Simone St. James? Yes please! This book immediately grabbed me, hook, line and sinker! I loved the suspense and twists in this book. They just kept coming! Every time I thought I figured it out, there was another twist which lead me to believe it was someone else. This was a fast paced book that kept me on the edge of my seat, and the whole hitchhiker thing? That just creeped me out! I also liked how she slowly incorporated the history about each character giving us a better insight of their past, leading us to start questioning whether that particular character had anything to do with the murders (at least for me it did). It made it even better that information would randomly pop up during the most inopportune times, almost as if to put them into the position of “getting caught with their pants down”, causing them to look even more guilty.
This was a really intriguing gripping story that I had a hard time putting down. I tore right through it! I’ll definitely be reading more by this author!
Thank you Netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Simone St. James for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Do you have any authors that you'll read without even knowing what the story is about, like just give me the book, I know I'm going to be thoroughly entertained? Simone St. James is one of those authors for me. Since I first discovered her books, I have absolutely loved the weird, spooky, creepy rides that she takes me on. And I love each new book more than the previous one. How does she do that? I totally devour each and every one of her stories!

Murder Road is an exciting, breathtaking thriller with the right amount of supernatural happenings, things that could, maybe, really occur... maybe. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and totally loved everything about it. The twist that ties it all together is mind-blowing.

I highly recommend Murder Road but be prepared to spend some time with April and Eddie because you won't be able to rest until they do.

3 stars

Eerie and atmospheric!

A young newlywed couple travels to a small town for their honeymoon where they end up involved in a long standing cold case police investigation.

The beginning of this book was full of atmosphere, tension and mystery. The author had me curious from the very first page. The 90’s nostalgia was entertaining and I loved the small town setting.

Although my interest did lessen in the second half, I was invested in finding out how the story would come together. I liked the characters, but can’t say that I completely connected with them as my investment in them did trail off near the end. They were entertaining but not people that I truly cared for and their behaviour and decisions became overly dramatic near the end.

Overall, this was an entertaining popcorn thriller that was easy to fly through but not a stand out in the genre. I usually connect stronger with this authors work, so this definitely wasn’t her best for me.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy!

Not my favorite Simone St. James. I felt the story was lacking and didn’t hold my attention the way her books typically do.

TITLE: MURDER ROAD
AUTHOR: Simone St James
PUB DATE: 03.05.2024

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

THOUGHTS:

I love a good supernatural thriller and this is something I expect from Simone St James - her writing is always well paced, chilling, and with a fantastic backstory for each of her characters. St James just knows how to scare enough to give me the heebie jeebies and putting me, the readers in one of the most eerie part of a road trip - you know the plot- lost and you pick up a hitchhiker, then there is blood and all hell breaks loose? Yes that one but there is always an unexpected twist that will always surprise you. Now that is brilliant.