In scenic Granite Harbor, life has continued on―quiet and serene―for decades. That is until a local teenager is found brutally murdered in the Settlement, the town’s historic archaeological site. Alex Brangwen, adjusting to life as a single father with a failed career as a novelist, is the town’s sole detective. This is his first murder case and, as both a parent and detective, Alex knows the people of Granite Harbor are looking to him to catch the killer and temper the fear that has descended over the town.

Writer turned detective, Alex, is leading the case on the murder of a local teen boy. This story has several characters, but I found them to be well developed and interesting. I found it to be a slow start, but the story picks up as another murder is discovered. A scared small town is left wondering if their children are safe while struggling to figure out who the killer could be. Add in some family drama and Alex sure has his hands full. A little graphic at times, but found this story to be interesting!

Thank you @macmillan.audio & @hachettebooks for my complimentary copy. My thoughts are my own.

If you are looking for a truly dark thriller, then this atmospheric story is definitely it! GRANITE HARBOR takes place in a small town in Maine, where the body of a teenager is discovered in the field of a settlement where several villagers work teaching about life a few hundred years ago. It’s Detective Alex Brangwen’s first case and it is particularly disturbing to him because his daughter was a friend of the victim. He knows he must find the killer soon before there are more young victims.

This story was disturbing because of the manner of death and the (trigger warning) stories of animal cruelty, and bullying. The story unfolds through multiple viewpoints, and while it was confusing at first, soon I became engaged and kept reading to find out who the murderer was - someone I never suspected! I enjoyed the back stories of the characters and felt they added to the story. This was my first novel by this author and I definitely plan to read more of his work!

I both read and listened to this one. I enjoyed both versions, but found myself checking the print version quite a bit at first to keep the characters straight. The narrator does an excellent job in the audio version.

Don’t miss this one if you enjoy:
*atmospheric novels
*dark serial killer tales
*stories that include ritualistic killings

Eh, maybe a little closer to three and a half stars.
A pretty decent story about the search for the person killing young men in a bizarre fashion, in a tiny town in Maine.
Thanks to #netgalley and #celadonbooks for this #arc of #graniteharbor in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @celadonbooks for this gifted book of GRANITE HARBOR by Peter Nichols!

I was captured by this book after the first few chapters. A gruesome murder of a teen boy brings up a killing from years ago leading Detective Alex Brangwen to think there is likely a connection and they might have a serial killer in their presence. The book has a dark atmospheric tone that will leave you feeling all of the creepy vibes. As it maps out the characters from this small Maine town, I didn’t find the reveal of the murderer to be surprising. It was still a great paced police crime book with some very gruesome details. Warning to readers: there is a section describing torture of a coyote that I found a little difficult and disturbing. In all honesty, I skimmed over most of that chapter.

This was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up on @goodreads) read for me and would recommend it to anyone that loves crime thrillers and detective novels.

Mixed feeling about this one!

Despite some disturbing animal mistreatment plus some pretty horrific child abuse and bullying this was a really solid police procedural/serial killer book. The setting, a historical recreation site in small-town Maine, was really well-portrayed.

If you can stomach some darker themes, it's a worthwhile read!

I really struggled with this one.
Bullying children, animal abuse, super graphic violence.
I think this one just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters and all the other stuff was really hard to stomach. The twist at the end gives it an extra ⭐️.

This was a great serial killer thriller with a great cover and gripping plot that kept me turning the pages!

This was my first Peter Nichols book, and I am absolutely dying to know what happens next in the series.

I really loved the small town—but worldly—vibes of this book’s setting. I loved the folklore behind parts of it, and thought it started off strong with the first killing happening so early in the book.

CW for graphic animal abuse in chapter 34–it was unexpected, but fit with the overall book and actually added a lot of context.

I absolutely hated Morgana for most of the book, but ended up loving the ending. The epilogue was really satisfying and wrapped things up nicely.

Overall, this kept my attention and was unique in the suspense/mystery genre—I will definitely read the next in the series once it’s out!

**Many thanks to @CeladonBooks and Peter Nichols for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

THUD.

No, that isn't the sound of a large chunk of granite being hurled into a harbor. (And yes, though that has little to do with this book, that IS one of the images that came to mind when I first heard this title.)

I'm sad to say that instead, that THUD heard round the world....was the sound of my head slamming into the wall after finally (and I mean FINALLY) finishing this book.

The premise of Granite Harbor is quite simple, albeit not that unique: a serial killer has ravaged a small coastal town (yes, you guessed it: Granite Harbor) and the denizens of the town are desperate to get the maniac off the streets. In a historical landmark known as The Settlement, where reenactments take place, a body has been hung for all to see...with a cryptic message INSIDE, spilling out. (Ick.) With such a small population, there aren't many who are willing (or ABLE!) to take on the case...save for the town's only detective, Alex Brangwen. As a former novelist, he's feeling more than a bit shaky and insecure about being able to suss out the killer...but with no other volunteers, he bravely steps up to the plate to give it his best shot.

Meanwhile, the mother of one of the murder victim's friends, Isabel Doerr, might be living the single parent life...but she's more than willing to try to assist Alex in finding the perp. Her child wasn't the only friend of the victim that's close to the investigation: Alex's DAUGHTER is also part of this former trio, making these two fast allies against the evil that is lurking in the shadows of Granite Harbor. Could these two have just the insight needed to get to the bottom of this bizarre and disturbing case? Is anyone inside - or outside - of the Settlement safe? Or is the first murder only the beginning -- and perhaps an ominous warning -- of the horrors to come?

I'll be honest, it's been a minute since I had the pleasure of putting this book in the rear-view mirror...and even after the WEEKS that have passed and time to reflect and step away...I have to admit that of ALL the adjectives that come to mind? 'Pointless' is probably the first.

The story starts with a long, plodding description of some characters interacting at the Settlement before the body is found, leading me to believe that reenactment was going to be a MAJOR part of this story. Well...it isn't. I suppose it served as atmosphere (?) to put our characters here, but they could just have well been hanging out in someone's backyard for all of the effect they had on me. What authors like Stephen King do SO well when describing places like Maine is to set the scene and allow what is already a creepy environment sort of get under your skin and function as another character - always lurking, menacing, in the background. Nichols instead worked so hard to try to make this book sound Literary with a capital L that any chance for this sort of brooding creepiness to take center stage got lost amidst a sea of clipped sentences and 'fancy sounding' words.

And trust me, there is PLENTY of that to go around. We spent so much time randomly diving into backstory (like the mostly irrelevant backstory of Alex's wife, for example) that I figured it just had to be leading somewhere, and all of the attempts at highbrow wordsmithing would SOMEHOW pay off. Nichols gives us gems like "His dour, mordant Mancunian wit" AND phrases like "He noticed the play of pronounced but firm buttocks beneath the flapping vent of her jacket."...on the same page. The writing is truly all over the place, and I had a hard time keeping pace with what the 'tone' of the book was supposed to be throughout. I kept waiting for things to get scary, or interesting...but they were just sort of off-putting and strange. There's nothing wrong with a literary book that weaves a mystery in, but I'm not even sure I can call this THAT...I truly just don't know WHAT to call it.

Nichols also needs to take a page from the psychological thriller writers of the world and figure out HOW to end a chapter. The number of times this book sort of randomly trails off, seemingly mid-thought, felt like he just decided he was done writing for the day and said, "Eh, I'll just start a new chapter in the morning." I honestly just didn't get it. I'm not saying each chapter's ending needs to feel like a punctuation mark on everything preceding it, or even necessarily be leading somewhere specific...but I think most readers would agree the reading experiences FEELS much better when this happens. I didn't find the 'twists' (if you could call them that) that surprising, the perp that surprising or interesting, and the number of times I thought "is this ever going to end" was innumerable.

There is also a bit of animal cruelty that is pretty horrible (even for me, and as much as I adore animals I usually am able to stomach reading fictional stories about such things) and yet AGAIN...I just questioned WHY. There is a fine line between disturbing and distasteful, and Nichols all but steamrolled that division here. I think what bothers me most about it is that most of the ickiest parts of the book felt sort of gratuitous and frankly, didn't serve the plot at all. There is even a section of the book where characters have bowel movements on another character's face in order to degrade them...so you've been warned. (And now I had to think about it again....as if reading it the first time wasn't punishment enough!)

Though there is something chilling about the daggerlike font on this striking cover, something eerie about the stillness of the open water at sunset, and something menacing about the silent figure lingering at the end of this seemingly deserted pier...that if I were stranded at the end of the same creepy pier, no help or hope in sight, and my choice was to a) revisit this book...or b) take a plunge into frigid waters below?

...

Somebody PLEASE hand me a lifejacket!

2.5 stars

Unfortunately I couldn't get past the animal cruelty in this one. It made me physically sick and I couldn't read further.

📚 Granite Harbor
🖊 Peter Nichols
Genre: Suspense Crime Thriller

Thank you to the publisher Celadon Books for the gifted physical ARC and also to Netgalley for the gifted digital eARC for review considerations. "Granite Harbor" by Peter Nichols was published on 04/30/24. All opinons expressed below are mine alone.

What to Expect:
🦞 Small Town Maine
🦞 Serial Killer
🦞 Mutiple POV
🦞 Graphic/Disturbing
🦞 Police Procedural

🫶 My thoughts...
I have so much positive praise for this book, but let me start off by saying, as a born and bred Mainer, I highly appreciate such a well-written novel set in a small coastal town in Maine. Nichols captured the setting beautifully, which makes sense considering he lives in Maine.

Some enjoyable aspects I found were the character development, which builds on the importance of a small community, with the addition of single parents and the difficulties of raising teens in today's world. That story, in itself, had me hooked! Additionally, I also enjoyed the POV of the serial killer, which is incredibly fascinating and twisted. It certainly heightens the urgency in catching the killer. With that being said, there are a lot of characters in this book, and if that tends to bother you, don't let it. In all honesty, it wasn't something I obsessed over, and I was able to follow along with no confusion. Plus, ultimately, I was unable to predict the identity of the serial killer.

I would recommend this nail biting read to anyone who enjoys small town crime thrillers.

As always, this is an adult thriller and any trigger warnings should be researched prior to reading.

***3.5 Stars***

GRANITE HARBOR is a gritty and dark tale centered around the deaths of teenagers in a small town. Nichols effortlessly creates tension by exploring the present-day investigation while flashing back to the backstory of the serial killer.

I will be honest. It took me a while to get into the flow of this book. I wasn’t sure where the plot was going to go. All I knew was the characters were pulling me in. I truly felt like I was a fly on the wall of Isabel, Ethan, Alex, and Sophie’s lives. For me, this is the core of the book. As much as it is a darkly twisted thriller, the people within these pages make it better. Even the glimpses we get into the killer’s psyche and what makes him tick are the moments that add the creepy factor. The characters are the vehicle for emotion, pain, and fear.

Though there were times I wanted more from GRANITE HARBOR, this is a solid police procedural and suspense novel. Nichols definitely knows how to construct a mystery that shines a light on all aspects of humanity.

Audiobook Note: Peter Ganim, did an excellent job with his narration of this novel. The pace was perfect and hit just the right amount of slower moments so that the listener could take in what was happening within the storyline. I had a difficult time getting into the print version of this book, so being able to switch to audio made this thriller much more enjoyable for me.

current DNF. I got to part 2 on the audiobook and can't get into it because of the narrator (I think). I will come back to the physical copy of this one at another time.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc of granite harbor. A serial killer is on the loose in a quiet small town in Maine. Can he be stopped before he murders again? This one left me with some unresolved questions. Three stars.

I was really excited to get my hands on Granite Harbor after hearing about the Maine setting. I'm from Maine and grew up in the next town over, on the coast, from the author, so I was hoping to see some realistic qualities to the setting. I have to say that was definitely the case! I've read some books set in Maine where it's so obvious that the author has never set foot here and just relied on stereotypes. In Granite Harbor, there were actual names of towns, streets, landmarks and fun little tidbits like an Uncle Henrys (that I remember my dad and grandfather always grabbing when I was a kid). It was fun looking for these throughout the book.

As far as the story itself, it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found that the main character, Alex, was't developed enough so I almost didn't even feel like he was the main character. There were too many characters in the story that I found it confusing to keep track of them all and sometimes confusing to figure out which characters was being talked about. The themes of animal cruelty and teen killings made it really hard to want to read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books and Peter Nichols for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book and it was fine, but I have a number of issues with it. Some not so bad, others - let's just say it could have so much better with a little tweaking in my opinion. The rest of this has spoilers (not detailed, but it could ruin it for you, if you read the book.)




One thing is it was very obvious to me who the killer was, even with the major red herring. I say major because it was overdone making it clear it was a red herring.

Second thing is there were too many characters vying for limited real estate in the book. Some of them should have been cut out of the story. The first one to cut - the ridiculous caricature of an ex-wife. Okay, she's kind of necessary, but tone her down please.

And last - the biggest issue for me - WTH did you do to your main character? I mean he's not even a main character partially because the item above and partially because he was a nothing. Weak and not smart and wishy-washy, yet I liked him and wanted the author to write him better as he seemed to have great potenial. I don't know if the author tried to make him vulnerable, but it didn't work. I literally wanted to yell at the character to grow a pair and I'm not from the men must be strong and he-mans camp, just he was ruled by everyone especially women. It was bizarre and frankly the only reason I kept reading was because I kept thinking, he'll get better, surely he'll better... If the author had done a better job with Alex (which would have been possible with just a few tweaks) and toned down the red herring, and made the killer less obvious - it could have been a great book. The potential is there but it didn't translate for me. That being said if there was another Alex Brangwen book I would try it because the story and premise were good. Hoping the author took some advice, and beefed up Alex's character.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Granite Harbor is a small town in Maine where everyone knows everyone else. Alex, the ex-writer turned cop, is dealing with his relationship with his teenage daughter, ex-wife, and his career, when a teenage boy is gruesomely killed at the local historical site. Now Alex has to solve the murder of his daughter's friend and figure out which of his neighbors is the guilty party. When the second body is found, Alex starts to fear for his daughter and the town.
The setting is optimally described so that you feel like you are in Granite Harbor. There are many characters but it's not hard to remember who is who. It was easy to figure out who committed the murders but the why of it slowly developed over time. The story is graphic and gruesomely detailed so not for the faint of heart. I liked the character development of Alex and I liked watching how he relationships changed over time. I would be interested in reading another story about Alex. He seems like his character could turn into a great police series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

This one was really hard for me to rate. The overall story was okay and might have warranted a 3-3.5 from me if it weren't for some detracting elements. It was more of a slow burn with the how and why being slowly revealed and the who not really a secret. It's honestly pretty forgettable to me with the exception of the darker elements like the animal death and no fade to black on a child sexual assault. If that's all I really remember in detail, that tells me it was probably unnecessary in that level of detail.

This was a very dark thriller revolving around a small town serial killer who is stalking a group of high school friends. For the detective in town, Alex, it’s his first serious case and the town is looking to him to solve it quickly. And he is desperate to do so, as his daughter is part of the friend group. Tidbits were dropped about the unnamed killer, and although I quickly determined who it was, I was still curious to know how it all came about.
Be advised, though, that this is a dark story involving gross use of animals and a gruesome bully incident. It’s used to describe the evolution of the serial killer, and I’m a seasoned thriller reader, but these scenes were difficult. The story was slow moving so more mystery than thriller, but since the killer was fairly obvious no surprise reveal or twist, and I felt the ending came about in a rather fortuitous manner rather than any expert investigation.
I’m curious if this is the first in a possible series, as I would continue to read another Alex Brangwen book and see where it takes us.
Thank you to NetGalley and Celedon Books for my #gifted physical and ebook.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the digital review copy of Peter Nichols' Granite Harbor. This was an atmospheric slow-burn...I'm a bit torn though. I loved the premise and the killer's past POV, but struggled with other dynamics throughout, particularly the detailed violence and seemingly forced dialogue. I think many others will enjoy this one, however. 2.5 rounded up to 3 for me...