Book Review: Killman Creek

KILLMAN CREEK (Stillhouse Lake #2) | Rachel Caine
12.12.2017 | Thomas & Mercer
Rating: 5/5 stars

DISCLOSURE: SPOILERS POSSIBLE!

Gwen Proctor managed to defeat her serial killer ex-husband, Melvin Royal, and save her children from his accomplices when they infiltrated their home at Stillhouse Lake. Now that Melvin has escaped prison, a whole new set of concerns turns their world upside down. Suddenly Gwen, Lanny, and Connor realize that they are not safe anywhere.

Melvin Royal stalks me in the brief darkness when I close my eyes. Blink, and he’s on the street. Blink, and he’s walking up the stairs of the motel to the second floor’s open walkway. Blink, and he’s outside the door. Listening.

Stillhouse Lake and all the hopes the Proctor family’s house held there are gone. Instead of reverting to going on the run, Gwen decides to take a stand and become the hunter instead of the hunted. With the aid of the brother of one of Melvin’s victims, she set out to track down the monster she used to call her husband. As the depths to the evil that Melvin encompasses come to light, Gwen begins to fear if she will ever be successful in ridding him from her life. Will Gwen be able to escape Melvin once and for all or will he destroy her before she has the chance?

For years, I clung to a terrible fiction of a marriage – a life in which Melvin Royal controlled every aspect of my reality, and I failed to realize or fear it. Gina Royal, the old me, the vulnerable me…she and the kids were Melvin’s camouflage for his secret, terrible life. On my side of the wall, I had only known that it all seemed so normal. But it never was, and now that I’ve left Gina Royal behind, I clearly see that.

Rachel Caine brings back a stronger, angrier, and more determined Gwen Proctor in KILLMAN CREEK, the second novel in a series focusing on her life. Instead of running from her fears, Gwen has decided to seek vengeance for the horrible crimes that rocked her world five years ago and the man that caused them. STILLHOUSE LAKE was an exhilarating ride with a family trying to escape their past. Caine stepped up the notch with the second edition. I was at the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. I raced through the last few chapters wanting to know how things would end. KILLMAN CREEK is perfect for a reader looking to go on the hunt for a serial killer and step into not only their mind, but the minds of those they have impacted.