In this edge-of-your-seat thriller—the follow-up to the international bestselling Dark August and Poison Lilies—Gus Monet and her daughter embark on a perilous road trip to find a missing person.

Gus Monet is a great protagonist and amateur sleuth. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the first two in the series. Well done!

Couldn't finish it because I was taken out of the book at the beginning. I couldn't get into it because it was boring and felt like it wasn't really going anywhere. Thrillers need to start with some kind of action at the beginning; something that pulls the reader into the story.

I think I was the only person to not realize this was a third installment about the mother\daughter duo, so maybe I was lost or maybe I just didn't enjoy the book, but anyways, it was.... okay. Maybe if I had read the first two this would make more sense but it was just alright.

Thank you Net Galley and Harper Collins for the arc!

Thanks to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks along with NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

A solid 3.5 stars. I didn’t realize this was part of a series, I didn’t feel like I was missing any information as I delved into this mystery/thriller.

Refreshingly different, twisty, and some breadcrumbs along the way to help you feel like you’re solving the mystery right alongside the main characters. A solid read that has me interested in checking out the author’s other works.

This was a three star read for me, so I did have some cons. We met A LOT of characters. It was almost hard (without a chart) to keep everyone straight. We were meeting new characters up until 80% finished. It seemed a little far fetched that in this small town setting Bly and Gus were able to go unnoticed and encounter so many people willing to help them.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was a fast past and twisty read! This is the 3rd book in a Gus Monet series but can be read as a standalone ( I have no read any other of the other books and the story made perfect sense to me). The story follows Bly and her mother, Gus, in the search for Gus's boyfriend after his disappearance. The characters are well written and it's easy to feel connected to them. The end was not easy to figure out before getting to that final twist.
I can't wait to go back and read the 2 other book in Gus Monet's series!

4.5 stars round up. This book had me in a choke hold from the beginning. It was hard to out down, I had to find out what happened to Howard!!

When Bly and her mother Gus go on a man hunt to find her mother’s missing boyfriend, they start to unravel a lot of secrets. Suddenly they find themselves on the other end of a manhunt but only one will come to light.

Had a very hard time following the storyline and characters. Had to abandon it as I just couldn't follow along.

This book really didn't do it for me. There were a lot of places where the pacing felt off in this book and it really dragged for me. It would have been a 1 star read but the last 20% or so picked up and really took off. However I probably never would have made it there if I hadn't been reading this book for a review. I'm not certain that I would have finished based on the first 80% alone. I wanted to know what happened to Howard but I kept having to force myself to pick this book back up and keep going. I really struggled with the fact that the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how selfish the mother in the book was and how she just didn't give a fuck about what happened to her kid so long as she got to keep barreling headfirst into this mystery.

I'm going to round my review up to 3 stars because of my own mistake. I didn't realize this was the third in an installment and read it without reading the first two. It said in the synopsis that it was a follow-up to the authors previous novels and either I read over that or just read that as meaning all novels are technically following up the ones that came before them. Maybe I would have liked it more if I'd read the other two first. I probably won't go back and read them because I didn't particularly find Gus likable enough to want to read two more books about her.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This one definitely grabbed my attention from the beginning. As someone that reads a lot of thrillers, things can get repetitive but this one was such a unique story it kept me reading. I really enjoyed all the little clues dropped throughout and how they all tied together in the end. A good author can leave a ton of clues and still surprise you in the end and that’s exactly what happened in this book.

I loved Bly’s character and how smart she was but I did find myself getting angry with Gus’s character for constantly putting her daughter in dangerous situations. I did not realize this book was the third in a series and maybe if I had read the other two, I would understand Gus’s character more but she honestly drove me nuts. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the opportunity to read and review this book!

When I read the premise for this book I was genuinely excited to jump right into it. It sounded like it was a bit unique and definitely had me intrigued.

Quick summary Gus and her daughter Bly (now 13) found out some shocking news about Gus’ boyfriend from three years earlier who had been missing for those 3 years. Gus was devastated when her boyfriend Howard went missing while working on a story that supposedly turned scary. Bly was also devastated because she viewed Howard as an important father figure. They immediately knew they needed answers and would find them together. This story is told from the POV of Bly, which was both interesting and at times strange. Definitely unique from a lot of books I read. Now let me get to my honest opinion of the Mother, Gus. I was not a fan of her at all. The whole experience and “investigation” that Gus and Bly dove into was not something I realistically thought a Mother would involve her 13 year old daughter in. Quite honestly it felt as though Gus didn’t truly care about her daughter’s safety, wellbeing, or feelings during the book. There were some twists but there better have been because this book felt like it had 457 different characters and it was confusing to keep up with. I would have thought with everything going on it would have kept me more interested or fast paced, but it was the opposite. It was extremely slow to me and I almost found myself not wanting to finish the book, but I slowly did only to have the outcome be less than impressive.

I may be an outlier on this one and don’t want to deter others.

Thank you to the Author, Netgalley, and Harper Perennial Paperbacks for the ARC of this book !

Buried Road was one of my favorite books that I’ve picked up this year. It’s a cozy mystery involving Gus and Bly, mother and daughter who are searching for Howard- Bly’s father figure and the love of Gus’s life-who disappeared 3 years back. The writing draws you right in immediately and I could picture everything so vividly.
You follow these two women on their quest to find out what happened and are dragged through the mud emotionally with them. Someone please make this a movie.
Thank you so much to Harper Collins and Netgalley for this digital ARC. Now I’m off to read more by Katie Tallo…

I did not realize this is the third book in a series until I read others’ reviews. I do wonder if this explains the odd prologue that alternates back and forth between the end of the book and jumping back in time three years. Anyway, this book is about a mother-daughter dynamic sleuth duo trying to find a missing loved one. The main character is the 13-year-old daughter, which gives the book a YA feel. However, her mother curses like a sailor so I’m not quite sure who the intended audience of this book is. However, I suppose it would appeal to an older teen, but as an adult reader, the overall storyline does feel rather basic.

I will say that I enjoyed the second half of this book more than the first. To the author’s credit, she introduces a lot of characters and does tie up pretty much all the loose ends of each character’s storyline (albeit the last chapter is basically just a super long explanation connecting all of the dots). But I do appreciate a book that doesn’t leave a cliffhanger or a giant question mark at the end. However, a lot of what happens is pretty predictable and other parts are a bit absurd. Again, I go back to this book being entertaining in a YA sort of way (just with a lot of cursing and a smidge of violence).

Again, I’d recommend this one for an older teen/young adult who is interested in a small town mystery.
Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and publisher for their generosity for providing me with this ARC. I am voluntarily providing my honest review of this book.

Thank you for access to read and review this ARC! The Buried Road is a very thrilling story of a mother and her daughter and their fight to find the missing piece of their family. There were lots of twists and turns and plenty of “on the edge of my seat” and “wait, what?!” moments. All in all, I’m glad I spent the time reading this great story.

3.5 stars for me! I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller that follows the journey of a mother and daughter as they look for their lost father figure. I did have a hard time with the character of Gus and the main protagonist was a young girl which wasn’t my total vibe. However, fairly enjoyable book!

A twisty-turny thriller that follows a mother-daughter due into a small Canadian town full of secrets as they search for a loved one who has been missing for three years. I loved the narrator Bly who is only 13 years old. Her young perspective provides an empathetic depth and gives an unreliable view of the story which adds to the mystery. The ending is tied up a little too neatly for me and feels a bit forced. Overall, a very entertaining suspense story!

Buried Road is written from the point of view of young Bly who travels with her mother, Gus, looking for their loved one who disappeared three years ago. Gus isn’t the best mother, she has some issues, but she loves Bly and treats her as an equal in their endeavors. As they head towards danger, the story picks up pace and the twists keep coming.

There are quite a few characters to keep track of but the plotting is binge-worthy and the ending really comes together. I recommend this book to thriller lovers and give it 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks.

This book was a little hard to follow the first 5 or so chapters. Mainly from the past and present storyline mix. I enjoyed the main characters and the way the twists and turns kept twisting and turning and at some points I felt I was going backwards!
The confusion at the beginning discouraged me but I decided to keep going. I'm glad I did!
The last half of the book had me glued to the pages thinking about every move the characters made and questioning everything!
The main character, Bly, seemed so focused on her mom I often forgot her name.
I loved the ending so much and had tears pricking the edges of my vision on the last page.
Thank you to HaperCollinsPublishers for the ARC of this book for an honest review. I look forward to reading other books from this author.

I’m just going to start out by saying that I really enjoyed the overall story and the mystery aspect to this book. The book had many twists that I did not see coming. Weirdly enough, a lot of the twists were not super surprising. The boom was well written enough that you did not necessarily guess what was going to happen, but there were enough hints dropped that you weren’t shocked. Someone who is more of a detective than me might have fun trying to figure it out. I am more of a “read and see what happens” type rather than trying to solve the mystery before the author reveals it.
A lot of the characters seemed typical, but were well crafted versions of their stereotypes.
I do have some issues:
I’m not sure how I feel about the age of the narrator. She at times feels too young or too old, like the author couldn’t settle on her exact age.
I also struggled to believe that Howard was kept alive in an open air cage in the woods for three years.
Sometimes it felt like the author couldn’t decide what was happening. Like the scene where the narrator poisons dogs (also, I’m a millennial. If you hurt dogs you are immediately on my bad list). They flip back and forth in the description between dead and passed out. This could be because of the age of the narrator and her not being sure what is real, but it came across very confusingly.
The ending also felt unrelated. I don’t see the point of the “buried road inside all of us” and the “bad blood” connection to the larger story.
Overall, I enjoyed this read, but I’m not going to be running out and recommending it to all my friends.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc -

Set against the backdrop of a seemingly tranquil small town, "Buried Road" unravels the dark secrets hidden beneath its serene surface. Tallo’s protagonist, Gus and her daughter, are a compelling mix of vulnerability and strength, drawing readers into her quest to uncover the truth about Howard’s mysterious disappearance. Tallo excels in crafting a narrative that is both richly atmospheric and deeply emotional, making their journey feel intensely personal.

The pacing of "Buried Road" is impeccable, with each chapter escalating the tension and intrigue. Tallo’s ability to weave intricate plot twists and turns is nothing short of genius, ensuring that every revelation feels both surprising and inevitable. Her writing is crisp and evocative, painting scenes that immerse readers fully in the story's world.

What sets "Buried Road" apart from other thrillers is its profound exploration of human resilience and the complexities of family dynamics. Tallo delves into themes of grief, loyalty, and redemption with a deft touch, making the story resonate on a deeper level. The emotional depth of the characters, combined with the relentless suspense, creates a powerful reading experience that lingers long after the final page.

In "Buried Road," Katie Tallo has crafted a masterpiece that not only entertains but also challenges and moves its readers. It’s a thrilling mystery that fans of the genre will undoubtedly cherish. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a book that delivers both heart-pounding excitement and heartfelt emotion.

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Katie Tallo’s "Buried Road" deserves all the accolades it receives and more. An absolute must-read!