Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake, 1) MP3 CD – Unabridged, July 1, 2017

Another book from my Goodreads TBR List was completed, thanks to the Romanceopoly Challenge hosted by Under the Covers Book Blog. This time I’ve fulfilled the Killer Crescent Challenge and read Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine, a book I’ve been meant to read since it was released in 2017. Rachel Caine was always an author; if she wrote it, I would buy and read it. I was sad to hear of her passing in 2020. I loved her Morganville Vampire series and have them all in my library, plus so many other books she’s ever written. Her books will forever be cherished, and I hope to pass them down to my kids and their kids.Storyline/My Thoughts: Every once in a while, I read genres other than Romance, and if it’s from an author I’m familiar with and already love, then I will read it. Rachel Caine’s Adult Thriller series, Stillhouse Lake, is a Psychological/Serial Killer Thriller, and did this book make my heart race and my blood boil when I read it? Yes, it did. After reading it, I had to tell my husband about it to rant over certain things immediately, not in a bad way, but in a way to get it off my chest. He is used to me talking about my romance books but was surprised that I was reading a Thriller.Holy crap, this book pissed me off. Not for the reasons you are thinking. I enjoyed the heck out of this book when I listened to it on audiobook. What pissed me off is what the FMC, Gina Royal/Gwen Proctor, went through in this book. That is what ticked me off. This poor woman was being harassed by internet trolls and people in real life for what her husband did when she was married to him. She had no idea what was happening under the roof of her house because her husband hid that side of him. She lived a HEA with her husband and kids until one day, her world crashed down, and she found out her loving husband was a serial killer.How do you think she would react? I know I would have done the same thing as this woman. This woman went to trial for being accused of being her husband’s accomplice, but she was acquitted and is now on the run with a different identity with her kids, trying to escape the trolls and people who don’t believe she is innocent. She’s trying to protect her kids and herself. She doesn’t want them to know of the people attacking her online and even wants to harm her kids. She becomes an instant mama bear. She doesn’t trust anyone easily except the person who helps her hide from her husband, who is in prison. The issue is she’s in a new town, and dead bodies are ending up in the lake she lives near, and she has suspicions that someone has it out for her, especially when the police come knocking on her door and have her as the first suspect.This psychological thriller by Rachel Caine definitely is not for the faint of heart. The whole time I was in awe over Gina Royal, who goes by Gwen Proctor most of the book due to her changing her identity and how she was handling things. The poor woman was married to a monster, and he played her. Yes, she made some mistakes in the book that made me question her, but I had to remind myself she had no one. She had no one to trust but herself when it came to protecting herself and her two kids. The police were no help in this book until the very end, and even then, she had reasons not to trust them to protect her life and her kids.Rachel Caine threw in twists and turns I didn’t expect and some that I did figure out. It didn’t stop me from listening to the book once I did figure out some of the things. I didn’t see that ending, though, and who ended up behind everything happening to Gwen and her kids. Rachel shocked me on that one. Then, Rachel had to leave me with a cliffhanger, which I have a love/hate relationship with, but I’m thankful this series is finished, and I have all the books. I don’t need to wait.This was a rollercoaster ride of a book, and I’m giving it four stars. This book made me think and mad for the FMC and what she had to endure, but not in a way I didn’t enjoy. I hope this book/series becomes a movie/tv show someday. Let’s make it happen, Hollywood. Stop remaking movies/tv shows and get with the times and focus on books written by Rachel Caine and so many other authors that come up with addicting, thrilling storylines.Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Stillhouse Lake series.Genre(s)/Subgenre(s): Thriller. Psychological Thriller. Serial Killer. Suspense.Cliffhanger: Yes.Would I recommend this book? Yes. This book may be for you if you are looking for a thriller where the FMC finds out her husband is a serial killer. It’s a book that will make you think constantly. I know it did me, and I still can’t get it out of my head, so I’m picking up the second book very soon.

WOW! STILLHOUSE LAKE by Rachel Caine is A riveting heart-pounding psychological thriller . . . My first book by the author and anxiously awaiting #2! What an incredible writer - an addictive, deliciously evil new series. I can see this playing out on Amazon Video.Meet Gina Royal from Wichita, Kansas. Gina never asked about the garage. That thought would keep her awake every night for years. “I should have asked. Should have known. But she had never asked. She didn’t know. In the end, that was what destroyed her.Her husband, Mel was charming. Their children Brady and Lily. That day, her husband called with an emergency. She needed to pick up the kids. Mel loved their family life. His second-favorite thing: wood-working in his shop. More than wood-working going down in the garage.“Normal life. Comfortable life. Not perfect, of course. Nobody had a perfect marriage, did they? But Gina was satisfied at least most of the time.”However, that day when she arrived home there were police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck. Their mailbox. Their lawn. Their house. An SUV had crashed into their garage. (Mel’s workshop). Before she knew what was happening Detective Salazar was arresting her.They were victims. Someone had crashed into their home. Why were the cops mistreating her in front of her own children? This had to be a mistake. Embarrassing. The neighbors were taking videos. They would be uploaded to the internet.Handcuffs. This could not be happening. She could not understand why someone was driving drunk and now she is being arrested.The garage. The cops wondered if she knew about the garage. She does not park in the garage. Her husband was going to be upset.However, the detective wants her to explain the life-size naked doll hanging from a hook in the center of the garage. Except, it was not a doll. It was real.The day her life changed forever. Her husband was a serial killer.Fast forward four years later.Gwen Proctor and her children are living at Stillhouse Lake in Tennessee. Since leaving Wichita, they have changed their identity four times. The weak creature she had left behind. One who had aided and abetted; however, unconsciously. That woman is long dead and she does not mourn her.Her kids are now Connor and Atlanta (Lanny for short). She has tried to keep them safe from predators and all the hate mail. Their father was a monster. The “good” father with a mask.If it had not been for the drunk driver, their lives would have gone on the same. It was her fault his true depth of evil had been finally unmasked. He had taken out a storage locker in the name of her long-dead brother. The journal. Each victim had a section.From abduction, torture, murder. The man will kill again.There had been a trial. All the women. Mel had infected her like a virus. Then there was the hacker which goes by the name of Absalom. But he helped with the false identities. Finding them safe havens. He controls the online harassment. Strictly business. She pays him.Ugly, cruel things about her and her children online. Like they had known was a monster Mel was. She keeps a gun. She will not let anyone hurt her kids or her ever again. Alarms, computers, security systems, burner phones. Their lives are spent looking over their shoulders. She is committed to their survival.Absalom communicates with them (computer guy). Her husband writes letters. There is a mailing address elsewhere. How does he know where she is?He writes from prison. He describes what he will do to her if given the chance. He’s inventive. Descriptive. Repellently direct. Mel is a contagious, fatal disease.People think she is guilty. His hobby. The garage. Little did she know what he was doing in the garage and what he was hiding. She knew he used bleach, but it was always a logical reason. She had believed every word.Then there is a murder at Stillhouse Lake.The rustic retreat. Upper-middle-class families. Second homes. A woman weighed down. The description sounds familiar to Mel’s victims. Does it have anything to do with Mel’s crimes? Murder practically at her front door?She owes her children a stable upbringing and safety. From trading cars to houses, always on the move.Mel had liked his stupid games. “Breath Play.” Cords around her neck. She hated it. She had seen something dark. She had refused. He had never choked her hard enough to pass out, but close. Little did she know while he was starving her for oxygen during sex, he was imagining his women in the garage, fighting the noose as he raised and lowered them off the ground.He was using her to play out his murders. Chilling and sickening.Now she had to protect her family with more than a gun. Mentally, emotionally, and logically. She cannot trust anyone. She must break the trail.Sam Cade. He is new to town. He is supposed to do some work on the house. They both have secrets.She has money that was Mel’s escape money. The inheritance from his parents’ estate; in the storage shed. It had been a year before she was acquitted. She had spent it on their safety, shelter, and identities before Stillhouse Lake. For their new life.Slowly she learns to trust Sam Cade and her son likes him. Even Lanny (with her goth and edge). Her son wants to be an architect so he and Sam hit it off. She wants to fall for this guy, but she is cautious. However, does he have a hidden agenda?Gina has a mailing service. Mel writes her. He has seen her and Sam at the lake house. How is this possible?She must go to the prison and confront the monster.From Javier, Sam, Absalom, Lance Graham, Detective Prester— whom can she trust? Enemy or ally?“Mel is worse than a monster. He’s a smart monster. Mel disposed of women in the water. Now, one trusts her.Another dead girl found floating in the lake.People are learning about her past. She will be arrested and she will lose her kids. Her murdering ex-husband. Who is doing this? Who else is keeping secrets? Does Gwen (Gina) have a stalker?Has she fallen for a serial killer twice?Now there are horrible words on their windows. A life she cannot escape. She has to fix it. But how. The safe room. Threats. Has Mel broken out of death row and someone made his way to Stillhouse Lake without a soul seeing him?Someone has her kids. . . She needs help, but whom can she trust?The suspense is riveting! Nerve-racking, heart-pounding! Does Mel have followers? (Mel reminds me of Joe Carroll - The Following - when watching I have to keep one eye closed)Highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith (Narrator) for an outstanding and entertaining performance. I purchased the book and audio version.I can see why STILLHOUSE LAKE has received rave reviews and included in the Goodreads Opening Round of Best Mystery and Thriller as well as climbing the Amazon charts.So excited to receive an ARC of #2 Stillhouse Lake, Killman Creek (currently reading), coming Dec 12, 2017. For fans of psychological thrillers—compelling, well-written, and twisty plots. Love the covers and titles. With #2, we catch up with Gwen. Mel has escaped from prison with the warning: “You’re not safe anywhere now.” JDCMustReadBooks

I took a punt on this book as part of the Kindle First deal (you get to choose one of six books that aren't due for release until the next month, at a discount). I chose it because I liked the blurb and the cover, honestly.The book starts with a bang, a woman's corpse stripped of its skin is discovered, and from then on we follow the story of Gwen Proctor, formally Gina "Melvin's Little Helper" Royal. Gina was married to Melvin Royal, the person responsible for the corpse. The story follows Gina as she tries to pick up the pieces and move on with her life with her kids, Atlanta "Lanny" and Connor. The book is very descriptive and wordy, and it keeps things tense without much actually going on in the first half. I found myself putting it down several times (life gets in the way!) and thinking about what was going to happen next with Gwen.What I'm unsure of, is the level of Internet abuse Gwen got (the Sicko Patrol). At first I thought it's a bit too far fetched, but then I properly thought about it, about how people use the Internet to form vigilante groups and spout hate because it's all too easy. Then it came to me that actually, what Gwen was going through was probably a true reflection of what someone in her position in real life would go through. It's far too easy to troll on the Internet. And it can be devastating. It's lucky Gwen has reinvented herself as a stronger woman with a thicker skin to deal with it, anyone with a weaker personality that didn't have the ability to switch off the computer and shut down, almost compartmentalise, would cave.I enjoyed this book. The second half really picked up in pace and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed Gwen's interaction with Sam Cade, her children and especially Javier (the gun range owner). I hope he features in the second book, and I hope Sam does too.What let this down, for me, is that it could've ended at this book. It was perfectly acceptable to have this as a stand alone novel, and it didn't need the extra bit at the end for the second book. That being said, I have pre-ordered the second book, so the author must have done something right, as I am looking forward to seeing how Gwen's battle continues.I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good psychological thriller, and anyone that likes a strong female lead, also anyone who likes crime books may find this a good read, too.I give it 3* because of the unneeded twist and second novel which really disappointed me because I didn't feel it needed one. If it wasn't for that, I would give it 5* without hesitation.

Apologies in advance to the author.Unless you’re prepared to totally suspend reality for a few hours, I’d give this so-called ‘thriller’ a very wide berth. The basic premise of the plot is wholly unconvincing and the contrived ‘coincidences’ woven in to sustain it downright implausible.When her husband is convicted as a serial killer (he was mutilating and murdering young women in the garage attached to the family home), Gina Royal aka Gwen Proctor is forced to go on the run with her 2 kids, even although she has been acquitted of being an accomplice (she apparently had no idea what was going on right under her nose!). Vigilante groups and Internet trolls are after them (really?), and they have to keep changing identities and moving on, or risk being discovered. They live in constant fear and are obsessive about security. Their latest home has a panic room, and Gina/Gwen has guns hidden in strategic places throughout the house (yup, suburban mom turned ace markswoman). As luck would have it (yeah, right), a former troll has taken pity on them and become a valuable ally: ‘Absolom’ monitors the dark web for any mentions of the family in revenge forums and alerts them to danger (what a star!). Conveniently, he’s also the one who provides them with their new IDs from time to time ...Honestly, this wasn’t just unbelievable ; it was plain silly! I finally gave up after 80 pages.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. You can find more candid book reviews on my Amazon profile page.

I trusted no one, I suspected everyone and yet I still didn’t see that ending coming.I decided to listen to this on audio, Emily Sutton-Smith is a fabulous narrator. I’ll definitely look out for her in the future.I have tried reading crime thrillers in the past but I never took to them. As soon as I saw Rachel had written a series like this I knew I wanted to read it because I absolutely love her writing, and I was not disappointed.This book tells the story of a family who have to change their way of life, live under false identities, move constantly, never settling, and never feeling safe, all because Gina was married to a serial killer.Melvin is warped, so are his followers, and so are the people on sicko patrol who torment her, and her children online. Grief, horror, disgust, disbelief, it doesn’t matter, nothing excuses what they posted about her, and the kids, what they threatened. People like them deserve to be in prison alongside her husband.When the body shows up at the lake once Gwen finally feels comfortable enough to make roots, that’s when you really start looking at everyone she’s been in contact with. Trusting people becomes more difficult for Gwen and as a reader you’re left suspecting everyone.I had to stop listening to this a few times, it was intense, and I wasn’t prepared for it to end. It was shocking, twisted, and absolutely brilliant. I cannot wait to continue with this series. Rachel is one of my favourite authors, and she never disappoints.I’m going to go have a strong cup of tea now and try to truly process that ending.

Absolutely brilliant series of books.I like crime thrillers, having read all the Karin Slaughter, Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs style of books but this was another level.Psychologically it was testing, had my heart racing wanting to read faster and faster to get to the end!It sure had me gripped.The style of writing was interesting too, having chapters from the various main character perspectives. Sometimes this annoyed me, as when I read I like to think for myself the views and attitudes motives etc of the other characters as I'm reading, and having to 'revisit' the story time and again from the other perspective slowed things down, rather than allow me to 'get into the next bit', but on the other hand it did add some interesting perspective too!Whatever floats your boat I guess!However, a brilliant book for sure

3.5 starsI confess to approaching Stillhouse Lake with caution knowing of the authors long association with urban fantasy novels which is not a genre that appeals to me in the slightest. Thankfully though, Stillhouse Lake is a straight up thriller devoid of paranormal elements and with a grandstand finish that stays very much on terra firma, well apart from the odd body turning up in the lake that is! The premise of the novel is outrageously over the top and amusingly far-fetched, and along with the melodramatic prologue I nearly gave up on outset! However, within the course of a few short pages I was hooked: admittedly, the writing is frankly overwrought and certainly won’t win any literary prizes, with each and every event dramatically accentuated, but the one woman warrior that was formerly known as Gina Royal is impossible not to warm too. Caine’s intentions are obvious from the outset - this is high drama thriller with an all too-predictable denouement, paving the way for a follow-up and a no doubt shocking return with Killman Creek.From the opening which sees unsuspecting Midwestern housewife and mother of two, Gina Royal, return home to discover a drunk driver has careered through her garage in Wichita, Kansas to the arrival of the police and the swift repercussions for her and her two children, Stillhouse Lake is a breakneck fight for survival. Gina acknowledges that her marriage to Melvin isn’t always perfect, yet she is largely happy and values her man who loves his family time, woodworking, lemon cookies and hates to put her out! Her rose-tinted view of the marriage smacks of suburban 1950s wives and settling for the first man who showed her any attention at high school, yet with two children she believes they are a happy family. But Mel isn’t quite so perfect because the car crashing through the garage reveals his sideline in serial killing and his predilection for abducting, torturing and flaying the bodies of multiple young women and weighing them down in water to ensure they remained undiscovered. A shocked Gina was subsequently arrested, imprisoned and sent to trial as a supposed accessory to Mel (Melvin’s Little Helper as the internet trolls renamed her) and despite her acquittal and the subsequent four-years of running, changing identities and protecting her kids, she is still fleeing the stalkers who want her dead and the menace of controlling Melvin, from his place of Death Row in El Dorado prison. Despite Gina’s innocence and frankness with the cops, mud sticks and as they say, there is no smoke without fire, hence the niggling doubt as to her innocence amongst everybody she comes into contact with. Gina Royal is running scared: from the internet trolls and from the depraved sycophants who worship Mel and would love to bring her down too, and when you can’t even trust the law enforcement guys, fear takes a whole different level. Gina Royal might have nothing left to live for, but she is damned well sure that Mel won’t ever destroy her kids lives, ten-year-old Lily and seven-year-old Brady.After a deluge of abuse, addresses being doxed and new identities disclosed, Gina Royal has been forced to reinvent herself and is rightly paranoid and this novel throbs with a discernible tension. Now going by the name of Gwen Proctor, no one is better placed than she to appreciate just how it has changed her children and destroyed their fragile childhoods. With a permit to carry, a safe room in her house, to the daily checking of the online ‘Sicko Patrol’, everything she does is in the best interests of her children who can smell her anxiety. But in remote Stillhouse Lake, Tennessee, Gwen and the kids (now known as Lanny and Connor) are finally making a new life for themselves and things are starting to look up, but working out who they can trust and which, if any, of their new neighbours they have reason to fear is fraught with difficulty. With an array of shadowy figures in and around the locality, Rachel Caine ensure her readers cross-question the action and body language of everyone they meet, from Javier at the shooting range to the mysterious Sam Cade, a strong and silent ex-military man renting a nearby cottage who forms a tentative friendship with Gwen and her children. As the threatening correspondence from am imprisoned Mel implies that he has once again successfully tracked her down and the body of a young girl turns up in the Stillhouse Lake, prepare for things to get very uncomfortable and with all the hallmarks of the modus operandi of Melvin Royal, all eyes start to turn on his former wife. When clearing her name is entwined with finding the real murderer, the risk to reward ratio is stacked odds against Gwen and her instincts are to run like hell, but when the choice of taken out of her hands she finds herself fighting for survival..Fantastically over the top, everything is done to excess with Gwen having a buried geocached stock of new identities, all provided at a very exorbitant price courtesy of troll turned online protector, Absalom. From running background checks on everyone who comes into the families contact to her multiple security cameras keeping watch on the house, prepare to suspend a large chunk of disbelief for Gwen has acquired a multitude of defence mechanisms. Admittedly Gwen does make some questionable decisions and a rod for her own back on occasions, but with the cops realistically unsympathetic attitude towards her and the kids situation, it is no wonder that she is loathe to trust anyone.With the first half of the novel focusing on how the Royal turned Proctor family have had to adapt to life after Mel’s imprisonment, readers are introduced to the wealth of precautions they have instituted and Caine conveys how this has affected their personalities and outlook. In this sense there is little actual substance to the story, more a gradual show and tell unfolding. Midway through with the discovery of the body in Stillhouse Lake the novel shifts to an all out action thriller. Some well drawn characters feature and although I would normally avoid pages of prose that detail far-fetched chase and pursuit capers, the characters had won me over and I was invested by then. With the denouement serving as a hook to the follow-up story, Killman Creek, given that I now care about the characters and was highly entertained by Stillhouse Lake I suspect that I will contemplate a return visit.Nothing deep, meaningful or ultimately credible, but boy this was fast and fun! Excellent eye-rolling escapism - pure and simple!Review written by Rachel Hall (@hallrachel)