Published by: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: August 3, 2021
Synopsis
The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through
British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and
vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades,
young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and
hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns
scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no
killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to
justice.
Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to
respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never
travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in
the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a
means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to
work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain,
hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she
was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the
summer.
One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her
sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her
parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local
diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her
and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and
threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…
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What I thought about Dark Roads
A serial killer is stalking girls in the small town of Cold Creek. Dark Roads tells the tale of what's going on and the victims living in this creepy little town. In many respects, this book is a sad one, although I did think it ended on a hopeful note.
With a book like this I don't like to say much about the details beyond the synopsis, since I don't want to spoil. The story is told in three parts -- the first part is Hailey's story. She becomes suspicious of someone close to her and has to take some desperate measures. I found her to be a very unique and interesting character, especially how she's chosen to live her life. She does take some seriously scary actions and I was emotionally invested in her outcome.
This first part generated a very nice level of suspense and tension that hooked me on this story. Nicely done.
The second part is Beth's story. She arrives in Cold Creek to investigate the death of her sister
Amber, who had been a close friend of Hailey's. Her plan is to walk in
Amber's shoes, and all I wanted to do in this section was scream over
all the decisions she made. This part was a bit slower, and not as atmospheric as the first part, but I still couldn't put this down. I needed to know the identity of the serial killer.
There are some romantic moments in both parts that helped with the dark subject matter and left me wanting to know more about Jonny Miller.
Part three involves some head hopping between multiple points of view that gives the reader a wider angle view of what's happening in Cold Creek. More possibilities for the serial killer are revealed. I was able to guess what was going on before the biggest reveals in the story.
Dark Roads kept me turning the pages until the end even though there were some parts I moved through quickly (ie. skimmed). There were some unbelievable moments as well that I didn't think too hard about, so overall, Dark Roads is worth your reading time if you like a crime drama with lots of atmosphere and tension. I particularly liked the ending and the decisions the main characters make in this story. Chevy Stevens is a new-to-me author that I will be looking for in the future.
Thank you St. Martins Press for a complementary review copy.
About the Author
CHEVY STEVENS grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island and she still
lives on the island with her husband and daughter. For most of her adult
life she worked in sales, first as a rep for a giftware company and
then as a Realtor. While holding an open house one afternoon, she had a
terrifying idea that became the inspiration for Still Missing. Chevy eventually sold her house and left real estate so she could finish the book. Still Missing went on to become a New York Times bestseller and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel.
When Chevy isn’t working on her next book, she’s hiking with her two
dogs on her favorite mountain trails and spending time with her family.
Chevy’s current obsessions are vintage airstreams, all things
mid-century modern, Hollywood memoirs, and stand-up comedians–not
necessarily in that order. Her books, including Those Girls ,
which Stephen King called “incredibly scary,” have been published in
more than thirty countries and optioned for film. Her seventh novel, Dark Roads, will be released summer 2021.
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