Reviews

Murder Road by Simone St. James

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justinkhchen's review against another edition

3.0

2.75 stars

'It's fine' through and through, Murder Road was compulsively readable, and has kept me entertained (via a very well-narrated audiobook) while cooking and folding laundry, but at no point was I fully invested in its characters and events. This being my first Simone St. James read, I don't think her take on paranormal mystery is my cup of tea—a mix between Riley Sager and Darcy Coates (way more Darcy in proportion), the juvenile, stereotypical depiction of the supernatural led to some 'WTF' chuckles from me that were probably not at all intentional.

Murder Road was also very romance-heavy, while not expected, I did find its presence semi-enjoyable. Effort was made to infuse key characters with a storied background, but the execution felt surface level and never truly engaged emotionally. My biggest issue overall was how the central mystery was resolved, with a very vague motivation (when it should've been more explicit since the whole book was building towards this answer), and some very wacky, nonsensical explanations on the supernatural elements.

Spoiler

So... an enraged spirit murdered by her own father was possessing random drivers on a road to kill hitchhikers (why?!), and the lasting effect on the possessed was brain cancer?! If the overall goal from the spirit was to reveal the murderer, and she could summon her lost son via some sort of psychic power (she knew how to keep busy in her afterlife!), then why kill these random people in the first place? Lastly, I found it hilarious by the end of the story there were just ghosts everywhere in this town.(

Murder Road is inoffensive, and admittedly never boring, but its 'scare actor at Halloween Horror Nights' style of supernatural is not for me, preferring something more sinister and chilling rather than spirit busying with shuffling and moving things to scare people.

**The Book Troop Book Club April 2024 Selection**

sayfarah's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

I need to get better at DNFing books when I feel I should because this was not for me. The plot fell flat and the characters were dull. I was so bored throughout the entire thing.

jenmat1197's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is the story of April and Eddie. It is 1995 and they are on their way to their honeymoon when they take a wrong turn. They come face to face with an injured girl who was along the road They drive her to the hospital, but because they are unknown and covered with her blood, they are under suspicion for the crime. They aren't arrested but told not to leave town until the investigation clears them. While in town, April and Eddie get involved with trying to solve the murder themselves which uncovers a long history with this town and murders along a certain road.

This was an okay book. This isn't my first St. James book and while a bit better than the last, still not great. I do blame some of it on the fact that I listened to this one and the narrator wasn't great. The story was interesting enough - I liked the mystery they were trying to solve. And it has a supernatural element which was interesting. Characters were fine - I liked Rose and the Snell sister characters in this book the best (side characters who lived in the town).

vbanfo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

thexwalrus's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

once again, simone st. james knocks it out of the fucking park.

desolate, haunted two-lane highways are a specific part of americana that i love. i mean, my favorite tv show is supernatural - of course i love the weird little roads that tell you you shouldn't be driving on them. this book takes that concept and fleshes it out through the eyes of two traumatized survivors trying to heal enough to be wildly in love with each other. this book was made in a lab specifically to appeal to me.

every single character in this book has a moment that made me adore them - even the shitty cops that i hated were wonderful characters! no one is one-dimensional, and no one is a cliche, not even april - which i was surprised by, because a character with a hard past who is so used to running all the time is a character type i'm very familiar with. i loved them all, especially rose, because i'm a sucker for a grumpy older woman who speaks her mind and cares about people in her own unique way.

it's a love story. it's a murder mystery. it's a local legend about ghosts and a reminder that some stories don't get satisfying endings. i loved this and i'm so glad i read it.