The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Release date: February 18, 2020

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden… 

Review:

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoyed the authors previous book, The Broken Girls, I freaking loved this one even more! It had the perfect blend of straight up mystery, dual timelines that flipped back and forth seamlessly and just enough of a supernatural element to scare me, but not so much that I couldn’t read it. For me to truly enjoy a thriller with the hint of the supernatural I really have to believe that the scenario is plausible and what made this one amazing for me was that it was not only believable, it was so well written and thought out that I could easily (almost too easily) picture this happening.

Is there a setting more creeptastic than an old, rundown and possibly haunted hotel in the dead of night? After reading this I’m gonna have to say no because this truly scared me to death. You have Viv working at the hotel in the eighties and then her niece, Carly who is basically living her aunts life in order to find out what happened to her in 2017. This was beyond atmospheric and I felt like I was right next to both women the entire time because the author was so great at setting a scene. it was seriously hair raising stuff. If you’re hesitant because of the supernatural stuff, please don’t be it adds so much to the story and I promise that it makes sense to the storyline. This is a must read for sure!

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.