A book for one sitting! The atmosphere is perfect and I love the fast pacing. I loved the bordering horror thriller and I couldn’t put the book down until I discovered what was going on!

Thank you for my copy!

I have loved previous books by this author, my favourite being the sun down motel but this one just was an average mystery that just missed the mark.

This is really good, classic, Stephen-King style horror, as main characters April and Eddie turn up in a small, isolated town in error and find themselves the suspects in a murder investigation that spans decades.

There are plenty of twists and ghostly jump scares, as the story unfolds and the supernatural entity haunting the area stakes its claim on the couple and attempts to ensure that they are trapped on ‘Murder Road’ permanently. There wasn’t the final twist I was expecting though, based on what I was sure was foreshadowing in April’s reading material, so I was surprised and misdirected all the way to the end – much to my delight… I do love a bit of unpredictability!

While I didn’t find the story particularly scary, it was a quick and compulsively readable paranormal thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed, so I would definitely read more from Simone St. James in future.

What a cleverly intricate, layered plot. The more you discover, the more there is to wonder and find out.

This book keeps taking the reader down darker and more twisted paths than you could imagine. The main characters, April and Eddie, both have pasts they’d like to leave behind and I was engrossed working out what they could be.

There are a lot of characters in Coldlake Falls, but they are each developed with clarity and individuality, some I placed clearly in the ‘don’t like’ camp with others gradually becoming more appealing by their surprisingly thoughtful actions.

The storyline took me to the edges of my believability, wrapping me into the events carefully, adding in some very tense, suspenseful moments,

I particularly enjoyed the ending, returning to Coldlake Falls, so that any remaining queries could be placed into context and understood. A story with surprises around every corner!

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the E-arc

This was a really quick read that I had pretty high hopes for but ultimately it never really took off. I didnt really find anything I disliked in here other than the characters but it just felt like an okay read to me.

As I said I wasn't keen on the characters and felt like I didn't really care about them by the end. Sadly a slight miss but I do think I would try from this author again in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Took me a while to get round to reading this one, and a couple of tries to get into it. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I just couldn't get into it 100%

Oh my goodness! This is is one of the best books I’ve read. I wasn’t sure where it was going and I defy anyone to see the twist. Love the writer. Looking forward to more!
Creepiness rating is way over 5 stars 🫣

Love the author’s work and very much enjoyed this one. My bookclub found this one to be a good choice.

Thank you Netgalley, Simone St James and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House | Michael Joseph for the eArc of Murder Road.

This is the first book.of Simone's that Ive read of hers and it reeled me in hook, line and sinker, Im a sucker for paranormal thrillers so I really enjoyed Murder Road. There was a great balance between the plot, the character building and the area the book mainly is set in. I felt like I had a good idea and feel of the area ( in the physical book has a little map at the front ) and I could picture very clearly the places the MC visited. I also enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, the era the book was set ( 1995) and the cold cases that made the thriller elements of this book. Some of the paranormal elements of the plot, made the hairs stand on end on my arms and genuinely made for some very creepy atmospheric storytelling.

The character development of April and Eddie Carpenter made both of them felt 3D, full of mystery and their own secrets that they have yet to tell to each other but I also loved how they just accepted who they were regardless. My favourite character was the landlady of the B&B they stayed in, Rose and the Sisters that help April and Eddie.

I was lucky enough to also have a physical copy from EveNight( Illuminate book subscription ) which is beautiful ! So im going to be able to reread this one with pleasure!

4.5 stars for Storygraph , 5 stars on Amazon, Goodreads and Netgalley

This was fantastic!! It felt like I was watching a movie in my head and it was sooooo spooky in parts that I actually have not stopped thinking about it since I finished it. The characters were well formed and I felt like they had a lot of depth. I particularly enjoyed the B'n'B' owner. I also didn't mind that there was a lot of supernatural things happening which I don't always appreciate in books, it was done well in this though. It was my first Simone St. James and I will definitely be reading more from this author. I loved the balance of ambiguity with concrete answers. I think it's a special thing when an author can lead your imagination to and from the flow of the plot. I would recommend this to people who like a paranormal, twisty, spooky, creepy, thriller with characters that will intrigue.

Absolutely loved this book, its the first book I've read by this author and it won't be the.last. I loved the characters and the ever twisting story.

I had mixed feelings about this one, I liked the initial storyline too it and there were some good twists but overall it just didn’t totally grab me.
I wasn’t really a fan of the main couple just couldn’t really warm to them and that may what put me off at points. As always tho the supernatural side to the book was good and it was definitely a bit creepy.

Review of "Murder Road" by Simone St. James

In "Murder Road," newlyweds April and Eddie find their honeymoon taking a dark turn when they discover an injured girl by the side of the road. Rushing her to the hospital, they soon become prime suspects in her tragic fate. As they delve into the town's murky history, they uncover unsettling secrets that suggest something is very wrong in this seemingly quiet corner of America.

This book is a fast-paced, drama-filled story that would make a fantastic film. It really creeped me out and kept me on the edge of my seat. A gripping read from start to finish, I'd highly recommend "Murder Road" to friends and family. It's the perfect holiday read for anyone who loves a good thriller.

This was the first time I had read this author, and I had raised expectations. This follows a couple on the way to their honeymoon destination when they see a girl on an abandon road bleeding. Once in the car they realise the girl is worse than they initially thought and rush her to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, the couple become suspects to a murder and are not sure where they really are but put under house arrest in the middle of nowhere. They soon find out that this is not the first murder to have happened on this road. Whilst under house arrest they begin their own investigation.
This book was just ok, the plot seemed a bit flat, the characters were very basic and didn't feel like a couple. It always mentioned how bad the female character was but didn't show anything to prove it. I think some connections were too convenient. I think if you can suspend your disbelief you will find this book good.
I liked the writing style...it reminded me of Ronald Malfi, really fast paced and easy to read.

Simone St James is an auto buy author for me. I have enjoyed almost every single thing I have read by her, so I went in to this book VERY excited.

It started off with Jeepers Creepers vibes for sure (thanks @zeroshelfcontrol for making me realise) and it definitely had horror movie vibes throughout. I enoyed the mix of suspense and paranormal, and I think Simone St James kills at the paranormal side of things (Sun Down Motel lives with me to this very day).

I enjoyed the characters (creepy Rose is the best), and it had the usual horror movie trope of frustrating policeman, which I love to hate. It was set up to be a very fast paced, drama filled story and it did not disappoint.

I definitely feel like this would make a great movie, and I was buzzing to receive the pictured copy from @evernight, which really shows a perfect horror movie cover.

5 big fat murders out of 5. I need more books like this to be released ASAP to satisfy my horror movie book style obsession.

Thank you to @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for the e-arc.

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Thank you Netgalley for this in exchange for an honest review.
This book had me utterly gripped it started out strong and kept a good solid pace. There was great mix of suspense and paranormal with a side of thriller.
Really enjoyed it but the reason behind the original death was a little let down. I felt after such a great ride the final drop was more of a little hill. However, this didn't stop me from loving the book.

Creeped me out! Such a great twisted thriller that really doubled down on the creep factor, with the scene setting even making me feel scared when reading alone. It’s not a balls to the wall horror but there’s elements, it’s a quick read and an easy recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance reader copy for an honest review.

Murder Road follows a young couple April and Eddie who are heading out on their honeymoon when they come across a girl on the side of the road who has been hurt. They rush her to the hospital but it is too late and they find themselves the suspects of this case.

It seems the road they were on the Atticus Line is known locally as the murder road and many hitchhikers have been picked up there and killed over the years.

Now they find themselves stuck in this town and embroiled in a mystery that is years old. To clear their name they decide to start investigating and find that there is more going on in the town than meets the eye with a lot of unexplained supernatural occurrences. Can they solve the mystery of these murders and prevent anyone else from being the next victim?

Overall this was a fun supernatural horror that gave me the same nostalgic feeling as the teen point horror books only this title is definitely aimed at adult readers.

It took me a while to get into the story initially with abit of a slow start but once the investigation began I was hooked and wanted to get to the end of the book.

The characters definitely grew on me the more the story went on after their backstories were developed abit further. However the twist I felt was quite an easy guess.

Overall a fun paranormal horror story to read.

Wow!! What a book! Pick this one up immediately if you have it, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a thriller, it’s spooky, it possibly gave me nightmares last night 😂 what more could you want?!

April and Eddie take a wrong turn on the way to their honeymoon (immediately the setting for a creepy thriller) and find themselves as murder suspects in a one horse town. They stick around to find out what’s going on and who’s been killing hitchhikers up Atticus Line all these years, but uncover something way spookier…

I love Simone St. James’s books, they manage to keep you on the edge of your seat from page one. Can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I requested this book because I've heard amazing things about this author but I hadn't read anything by her!

I went into this book completely blind which I think was good for me.
I had no idea that this had ghostly elements to it, so that was an interesting surprise.

This book was an nice easy read. It had a lot of creepyness, It was very tense and it just had creepy vibes.
I enjoyed both the main characters, they were mysterious all by themselves.

I think the thing i disliked about this book was the ending, I can see what the author was going for but it seemed odd. It just didn't fit the book in my opinion, One of the main characters changed quite a bit at the end of the book and it seemed very random.

But overall I did enjoy it, I had a good time reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.