This was a crime thriller set in an amusement park. There are creepy clowns and a really creepy dollhouse that might have been why I didn't read it back when I originally added to my TBR shelf. Vanessa Castro has moved to Seaside, Washington after a scandal in the police department in Seattle. She has been hired to be the Deputy Chief when the old one retires. She and her two children are trying to settle in and her teenage daughter has already got a job at Wonderland. It is a fun, family theme park by day, but is eerie at night, so when a dead body shows up under the Wonder Wheel and a teenager disappears after taking a picture of himself standing on top of the wheel, the town is thrown into turmoil. As Vanessa tries to start an investigation she runs into some angry townsfolk, who have had teenage boys disappear. There also seems to be a lot of secrets and a hint of a cover up. Can Vanessa sort out what is happening and solve the murder as well as the cold cases?

After reading and listening to Wonderland, I won't ever think of theme parks in the same way. This was a very creepy story, partly due to the setting, but also the well developed and villainous killer. There were so many possible culprits that I had no idea who had kidnapped and murdered at least one, maybe more young men. The innocence of Vanessa's daughter was even more pronounced when it was up against all the weird and creepy characters. She doesn't feel right about certain people, but is easily convinced to give them a chance. As the story unfolds, it becomes very tense and I was on the edge of my seat. There are some great characters including the father of one of the missing boys, the head of security at the park, who Vanessa has a one night stand with and one of the police detectives that helps Vanessa crack the case. This is one of the first books Jennifer Hillier wrote and I have read several others that followed this one. I enjoyed them all and recommend this author if you enjoy creepy, twisty, thrillers.

3.5 stars. I have really enjoyed Hillier's other books so was excited to read this one. I did enjoy this and was entertained but it did feel a little too simple or generic for a thriller. For the setting and events, it kind of lacked the suspensful creepiness I was expecting. I did like the theme park setting. I also liked the characters and that there were so many of them. Sometimes when there are a lot of characters, it can make the story confusing, but not in this case. It actually helped to keep the reader wondering who was the bad guy.

Jennifer Hillier delivered on the mystery. She takes readers to the world of an amusement park named “Wonderland”, where several of its young male workers seem to be disappearing from. When a mysterious body is found deceased at the bottom of Wonderland’s Ferris Wheel, many of the parks dark secrets come to light. How are all of these young men disappearing? Where are they disappearing to and is anyone behind this?

I devoured all the juicy drama his story had. I loved the relationships between some of the characters even if they were toxic LOL. This was a fast read because of the mystery and drama. I loved it

The cover reeled me in and I love amusement parks featured in the story line of books. So I got all hyped up to read this book but unfortunately this didn't live up to the expectations.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher for advancing me a copy of “Wonderland” by Jennifer Hillier in exchange for an honest review.

Having read Freak, Creep, and The Butcher, I was excited to read Wonderland, the author's latest novel. Unfortunately, it was not up to par as the others. Yes, there's some suspense but nothing that gave me the chills I was hoping for. With a plethora of characters included, not one of them stood out. You had the very flawed heroine, Vanessa; the guy she slept with once and who's in love with someone else; two kids, one of them a really surly teen; her colleagues at the police department; and one bitchy and manipulative woman who's 36 and makes it her hobby to sleep with as many 18 year-old boys. I'm guessing the only reason the author added all these people was to throw the reader off from figuring out who the killer is. Even with the many secrets that everyone seemed to be hiding that eventually came to light, the story came across as flat. Nothing stood out. It read almost like a bad soap opera (are they ever good). I couldn't get over the hypocrisy of Deputy Vanessa. For someone who couldn't stand all the lies and secrets everyone was hiding, she needed to take a good look in the mirror as not once does she ever divulge her secret. Talk about being the biggest hypocrite of all.

Then there's the mystery which in itself was ridiculous. The fact that the police and herself didn't realize that all the teens who were missing were all blondes was ridiculous. (check blurb). Why the town had a police department was a joke since everyone seemed to be let out and really didn’t know what was going on in their town. It takes a new person like Deputy Vanessa to come in and announce that a serial killer is on the loose and has been for so many years and it’s their job to catch him. Why no one thought to go down into the dungeon that everyone knew was there was asinine. Did I forget to mention that Vanessa grew up there? Well she did and she was fully aware that the molester had taken his victims there many years before. So why didn’t she not check it out? I would think it would be one of the first places to be checked. Not to mention, it's part of the creepy area of the carnival. It's a town of idiots. Also, did anyone bother to go deep into the forest behind the park to look? Guess not. Still not a bad read, but nowhere as good as the others.