Quick Synopsis

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

Publisher’s Synopsis

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Book Review

I became a Simone St. James fan after reading The Broken Girls in 2018. I then devoured The Sun Down Motel and added St. James to my autobuy author list. That being said, I was a bit disappointed with St. James’s last release, The Book of Cold Cases. So as I picked up Murder Road, I was hoping to see St. James return to the storytelling that I loved.

Murder Road begins with the newly married Eddie and April Carter driving to their honeymoon destination in the summer of 1995. At around 3 am, Eddie takes a wrong turn off the interstate and ends up on Atticus Line Road near the small town of Coldlake Falls, Michigan. Standing in the middle of the road is a young woman, holding a jacket tight across her front, and walking very slowly. Eddie and April stop to make sure the woman is okay and take her to the local hospital where she dies from stab wounds. The next morning, the couple awake to find themselves at the center of a mysterious murder investigation.

Murder Road combines the 1995 timeline with flashbacks from the protagonists. Underlying the story is the mystery of who and what is killing hitchhikers on Atticus Line. Dissatisfied with the police’s investigation and explanation, April and Eddie decide to get to the bottom of things on their own. All the while, April and Eddie’s own backgrounds and secrets are revealed to the readers and the other characters.

Paranormal and ghost stories are not my usual reads, but I always make an exception for Simone St. James’s books. Her novels, including Murder Road, are well-written, atmospheric stories that dial up the creep factor.

Murder Road brought to mind the first time I saw The Ring as a preteen. I was not scared per se, but my skin crawled and I felt off-balance with the image that creeped out of the screen. I felt similar sensations as Eddie and April encountered the Lost Girl, a ghost looking for retribution.

However, I was sad to find that Murder Road was not particularly gripping. I am not sure if it is due to the near immediate involvement of police or just the writing. I was anxious to discover whether April and Eddie would be accused of the hitchhiker’s death and be entangled with the cops. (None of which was where I hoped the story was going.) I found their questionable guilt distracting from the primary plot and mysterious occurrences.

In addition, I think Murder Road suffered a bit from pacing issues. I found the pacing to be slow but also very uneven. I would hesitate to label the book a thriller, rather than horror or mystery.

While I enjoyed Murder Road, I do not think St. James struck a great balance between plot and character development. For instance, I thought the flashbacks could have tied in better to the story at large. In my opinion, St. James left a few opportunities at the table, like making a more impactful statement at the end, particularly in regards to the police department’s handling of the murders or Rose’s cantankerous attitude.

Overall, Murder Road is a solid book that has plenty of creepy content to make up for the mercurial pace. I recommend this novel and will keep reading St. James’s novels.

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