Book Review: Stillhouse Lake

STILLHOSUE LAKE (Stillhouse Lake #1) | Rachel Caine
07.01.2017 | Thomas & Mercer
Rating: 4/5 stars

Gina Royal is your average Midwestern mother living with her husband and two children in a quiet town until one day her world is turned upside down. Gina comes home with her children to find that a drunk driver has driven straight through their garage. Sadly, this isn’t the worst of her problems. The cops have found a woman, dead and hanging from a hook in her garage. Immediately Gina is deemed a suspect to this heinous crime. She soon finds out that her husband, Melvin Royal, has been killing for years and hiding it right under her nose. It’s impossible for the cops and society to believe Gina had no part in these crimes and she arrested as an accomplice.

And that was when she had one single, awful realization. It’s not a doll. And against all her best intentions, she began to scream and couldn’t stop.

Gwen Proctor is the opposite of her former self. Since being acquitted for crimes she never assisted with, Gina Royal has moved multiple times and is finally become a strong, no-holds-barred woman living under the alias of Gwen Proctor with her two kids in Stillhouse Lake. Everything seems peaceful and the town is now beginning to feel like home. Just as Gwen thinks her grip on her new life couldn’t get any tighter, a body is found in the lake and her world begins to crumble all over again. Gwen, however, is a lot stronger than Gina ever was and will stop at nothing to save her family and herself from the evil surrounding them. At what cost will Gwen avoid another set of crimes ruining her and her families lives?

But I’ve kept them safe from the wolves, at least: the most basic and important job of a parent, to keep her offspring from being eaten by predators. Even the ones I can’t see.

Rachel Caine presents the story of a family torn at the seams of their picturesque life and turned in to fighters willing to stop at nothing to protect what they have left in STILLHOUSE LAKE. Caine’s narration of the events surrounding Gwen’s life gives the reader a glimpse into not only her past and present, but also a closer look at her now ex-husband and those who want to punish Gwen to bring justice for his actions. The story started a bit slow for me as the background to the Proctor/Royal family was spelled out, but that vibe didn’t last long before I was gripping the edge of my seat waiting to find out what would happen next. Caine has a masterful ability to write longer chapters and maintain a level of suspense often seen in novels that utilize shorter chapters for this purpose. The second book in this series, KILLMAN CREEK, was released this month and I can’t wait to pick back up with Gwen and see what waits for her next in the aftermath of the events that happened in STILLHOUSE LAKE.