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jmj697mn's review
3.0
Better than her last one. Still hoping for even better out of her next novel, but I am looking forward to it. She sure does paint an awesome picture in your mind while you are reading. I could really almost feel the vegetation and taste the rain. The suspense factor was high in this one, as was the creepiness. The Shoemaker will probably give me a few nightmares tonight.
mg_in_md_'s review
4.0
This review is based on the ARC I received via FirstReads. The story starts with a family vacation that goes awry. When Liz's children go missing during an overnight stay at a hotel, it becomes clear that her husband Paul's proposal to visit his parents for a summer vacation was not as simple as it seemed. The police opt not to get involved since it appears to be a domestic dispute, rather than a kidnapping, so Liz must rely on herself to find her children. Secrets from Paul's past and present (centering around a separate storyline involving like-minded individuals) factor into the children's disappearance. The book was fast-paced and complex, and I felt like the author did a nice job of pulling all of the moving pieces together. There is a cameo appearance by a character from the previous book ([b:Cover of Snow|13642956|Cover of Snow|Jenny Milchman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352422836s/13642956.jpg|19258206]) but it isn't critical to have read the earlier book before reading this one; these two are more standalone offerings that happen to be set in similar locations. In fact, while I enjoyed both books, I liked this one even better than the first. As was the case with the first book, the weather factors into the story -- although this one deals with the oppressive summer heat, rather than a bitter winter. Overall, I enjoyed this FirstReads win and look forward to future offerings by this author.
mmc6661's review
4.0
Really enjoyed Milchman's first novel Cover Of Snow and found this one just as suspenseful and fast paced. Jenny Milchman is a new author of suspense to keep an eye on. I have put her on my to read list of writers . A page turning don't want to put down book !
readhikerepeat's review
4.0
Ruin Falls will make your heart race. For the review, visit The Book Wheel.
ggrillion's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
Recommended by Connie.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sruin%20falls%20milchman__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sruin%20falls%20milchman__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
cnorbury's review
4.0
*Spoiler alert* key plot piece mentioned in first paragraph.
A taut, fast-paced story with good plot twists and just enough information given or discovered at key points to keep one guessing but following the story well. The MC is well-developed, sympathetic, but also flawed in that she chose to submit to her husband's peculiarities rather than stand up for herself. She could have at least examined her life with him close enough to understand that he might do something rash and seemingly unplanned like he did *Spoiler alert*...with her children.
She pieces together the facts in an efficient manner, with minimal help from the police, but in very believable fashion. Set in Wedeskyull, NY, a small Adirondack Mountains town, this is Ms. Milchman's second novel set in that location. She subtly refers to the heroine of her first book, uses another first book character in a key role in this book, and is setting up readers for a series where the town provides the stories and characters interact with each other from book to book, with some new and important characters taking center stage, whereas they may have been minor characters in previous books.
I'd rate this book and her first, Cover of Snow, psychological thrillers/suspense novels because the horror is mostly in the mind of the MC, but the urgency seems real.
A taut, fast-paced story with good plot twists and just enough information given or discovered at key points to keep one guessing but following the story well. The MC is well-developed, sympathetic, but also flawed in that she chose to submit to her husband's peculiarities rather than stand up for herself. She could have at least examined her life with him close enough to understand that he might do something rash and seemingly unplanned like he did *Spoiler alert*...with her children.
She pieces together the facts in an efficient manner, with minimal help from the police, but in very believable fashion. Set in Wedeskyull, NY, a small Adirondack Mountains town, this is Ms. Milchman's second novel set in that location. She subtly refers to the heroine of her first book, uses another first book character in a key role in this book, and is setting up readers for a series where the town provides the stories and characters interact with each other from book to book, with some new and important characters taking center stage, whereas they may have been minor characters in previous books.
I'd rate this book and her first, Cover of Snow, psychological thrillers/suspense novels because the horror is mostly in the mind of the MC, but the urgency seems real.
eserafina42's review
3.0
Great premise. A couple starts out on a trip with their two children, who then disappear from the hotel they're staying overnight, after which the husband, who his wife finds was behind the children's disappearance, does a bunk.
For more than the first half of the book I thought I would give it a 4. Then about 2/3 of the way through it seemed to be devolving into a stinking pile of incoherent goo, and it moved down to a 2. After our heroine, who had almost been blinded in an attack by one of the villains, snuck out of hospital and in true TSTL fashion headed off to confront them by herself and rescue her children (still a 2, but I guess considered necessary to facilitate the requisite dramatic confrontation in which she almost gets killed) it seemed to shake itself and pull itself together for a relatively satisfactory conclusion. If we had half stars I'd probably give it 2.5, but I guess it will have to be a 3. There were still, I felt, quite a few loose ends. A couple of examples: Why were Cody and his mother sneaking around Liz's house? (Why would her ex have told her to go there, that is?) How did they - or Cody, at least - end up in the encampment when her ex had tried and failed to kidnap the boy and been arrested? How did Paul get hold of the pillow that he used to kill his friend? Did he take it with him from the hospital (which it seems would have been noticed), and if not, wouldn't it have been in police custody as evidence?
Finally, with all the paranoia out there about missing kids, I find it totally unbelievable (although if I did some research I might find it was true - not much surprises me these days) that if one parent snatches his kids from the other one, lies to the police and pretends that they were kidnapped, and then disappears himself, the police would refuse to intervene on the grounds that it was a "domestic matter."
For more than the first half of the book I thought I would give it a 4. Then about 2/3 of the way through it seemed to be devolving into a stinking pile of incoherent goo, and it moved down to a 2. After our heroine, who had almost been blinded in an attack by one of the villains, snuck out of hospital and in true TSTL fashion headed off to confront them by herself and rescue her children (still a 2, but I guess considered necessary to facilitate the requisite dramatic confrontation in which she almost gets killed) it seemed to shake itself and pull itself together for a relatively satisfactory conclusion. If we had half stars I'd probably give it 2.5, but I guess it will have to be a 3. There were still, I felt, quite a few loose ends. A couple of examples: Why were Cody and his mother sneaking around Liz's house? (Why would her ex have told her to go there, that is?) How did they - or Cody, at least - end up in the encampment when her ex had tried and failed to kidnap the boy and been arrested? How did Paul get hold of the pillow that he used to kill his friend? Did he take it with him from the hospital (which it seems would have been noticed), and if not, wouldn't it have been in police custody as evidence?
Finally, with all the paranoia out there about missing kids, I find it totally unbelievable (although if I did some research I might find it was true - not much surprises me these days) that if one parent snatches his kids from the other one, lies to the police and pretends that they were kidnapped, and then disappears himself, the police would refuse to intervene on the grounds that it was a "domestic matter."
jen_e_fer's review
4.0
Another great thriller from Jenny Milchman, not as good as Covered Snow, but still very engrossing.