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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Wow, I really like this series. I wasn't sure how it would be able to continue with Melvin dead, but it works. The ending really paves the way for the series going forward as well.
I'm loving the character growth and how they work together.
There did seem to be a lot going on in this one though -- like so many different mysteries and avenues of attack. Almost overwhelming, but it worked out well enough for me.
Truly, one of my favorite thriller series and I look forward to the next book.
I'm loving the character growth and how they work together.
There did seem to be a lot going on in this one though -- like so many different mysteries and avenues of attack. Almost overwhelming, but it worked out well enough for me.
Truly, one of my favorite thriller series and I look forward to the next book.
I listened to the audio version of this book. After having threats and danger coming at her and her family for 2 books, Gwen Proctor puts herself on the line for a stranger when she gets a call from a woman in Wolfhunter River. When the woman dies, Gwen gets a call from the woman's daughter and Gwen goes to see if she can help.
This book has multiple points of view and having different narrators for each part really adds to the story.
The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat as you wonder if this is the end for Gwen and her family.
This book has multiple points of view and having different narrators for each part really adds to the story.
The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat as you wonder if this is the end for Gwen and her family.
She can’t ignore a cry for help. But in this remote hunting town, it’s open season.
Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.
But now, a threatened woman has reached out…
The third in Caine’s immensely readable and thrilling ‘Stillhouse Lake’ series, Wolfhunter River is nonetheless a departure from the norm. The book feels very much like a bridge that had to be crossed before Caine could continue the series the way she wanted. This isn’t a criticism. Actually, I was worried that Caine wouldn’t be able to move Gwen and Sam away from the malevolent spectre that was Melvin Royal, and I’m very pleased to be wrong. I can imagine – given the narrative thread that Rachel Caine introduces toward the end of this book – a very satisfying series coming from this new direction in Gwen’s life.
Part of me just wants Gwen to catch a break. What else can she possibly endure without going crazy? But the other part finds these books way too exciting to let go. In Wolfhunter River, Gwen answers the call of a panicked woman named Marlene Crockett, who is desperate for help to escape a looming threat. She won’t explain what – or who – she’s terrified of, but it’s evident that there’s something rotten in Wolfhunter. After sick Internet vigilantes come after Gwen and her family once again, and she receives another disturbing call – this time from Marlene’s daughter, she heads to Wolfhunter, feeling called to help, any way she can.
The second half of the book is packed with action, but Caine doesn’t sacrifice character and relationship development in the process. Gwen and Sam are struggling both with their romance, and with their pasts. Gwen sees camera eyes in every corner and Melvin in every patch of dark, and Sam is rocked to the core by the re-emergence of Miranda Tidewell in his life – a particularly repellent character that is hellbent on misery and revenge.
There’s also the very real threat from online sources and ghosts from Melvin’s past. He’s made sure that even in death, he’s a part of his family’s life, and like a spider, he keeps tightening the web – until someone is bound to choke. He’s a black stain on their lives, and it only continues to get worse, not better.
By the end, Caine has set up Gwen for a new beginning, but crucially, a beginning that is shaped irrevocably by the blood and horror of her past. I’m very, very happy that we haven’t seen the last of Gwen and her family, and hopefully, we’ll get more glimpses of Melvin (what a name hiding such a monster!)
My favourite part of these books – the beating heart that runs through them like a golden cord of steel – is Gwen’s love for her children, and YES – her love for herSELF. She SURVIVED. *She* did that. And she’s not giving up – not for anyone. It’s such a gorgeous portrayal of what it means to be a survivor, and what it means to be a woman in this world – this world of rape culture and #MeToo and Internet dog-piling and incessant, damaging vitriol. A world where your husband was a serial killer, and somehow it’s your fault for not controlling him, pleasing him, stopping him. It’s still, somehow, all on the woman.
I love Rachel Caine for this honest, unflinching depiction of a woman who has gone through the fire – and come through scarred, but alive, kicking and ready.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate the chance, as always.
Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.
But now, a threatened woman has reached out. Marlene Crockett, from the remote town of Wolfhunter, is panicked for herself and her daughter. When Gwen arrives in the small, isolated rural community, Marlene is already dead—her own daughter blamed for the murder. Except that’s not the person Marlene feared at all. And Gwen isn’t leaving until she finds out who that was.
This is the third book in the Stillhouse lake series. Ideally I would have preferred Stillhouse Lake had been a standalone. It certainly could have been if a little more had been added to it. I knew when I read it though, that there would be another book and I thought this was going to be a duology. Then when I heard about this book I thought it was going to be a trilogy. Now it seems this has turned into a series with no end in sight. Unfortunately I do not see the need for it at all.
Although I really thought this third book was not needed as everything was wrapped up in the two previous ones, I was willing to give it a try, especially since I thought it was the last book in a trilogy. There ended up being little in relation to the first two books, and a side story became the main focus. I thought there was way too much going on with Miranda and the group of people making the documentary, the kidnapped little girl, and the whole town full of crazies. It also felt really unbelievable. I got tired of some of the repetition and rehashing from the two previous books as well. It just all started to get on my nerves after a while.
It's obvious when reading this that the author was trying to transition this book into the start of a series with Gwen becoming an investigator. I really don't find it plausible that this woman, with all the harrowing stuff she has been through would want to continue to put herself and her children through this sort of thing by taking on other people's horrific problems. Unfortunately this series has overstayed its welcome.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing a copy of this book.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
But now, a threatened woman has reached out. Marlene Crockett, from the remote town of Wolfhunter, is panicked for herself and her daughter. When Gwen arrives in the small, isolated rural community, Marlene is already dead—her own daughter blamed for the murder. Except that’s not the person Marlene feared at all. And Gwen isn’t leaving until she finds out who that was.
This is the third book in the Stillhouse lake series. Ideally I would have preferred Stillhouse Lake had been a standalone. It certainly could have been if a little more had been added to it. I knew when I read it though, that there would be another book and I thought this was going to be a duology. Then when I heard about this book I thought it was going to be a trilogy. Now it seems this has turned into a series with no end in sight. Unfortunately I do not see the need for it at all.
Although I really thought this third book was not needed as everything was wrapped up in the two previous ones, I was willing to give it a try, especially since I thought it was the last book in a trilogy. There ended up being little in relation to the first two books, and a side story became the main focus. I thought there was way too much going on with Miranda and the group of people making the documentary, the kidnapped little girl, and the whole town full of crazies. It also felt really unbelievable. I got tired of some of the repetition and rehashing from the two previous books as well. It just all started to get on my nerves after a while.
It's obvious when reading this that the author was trying to transition this book into the start of a series with Gwen becoming an investigator. I really don't find it plausible that this woman, with all the harrowing stuff she has been through would want to continue to put herself and her children through this sort of thing by taking on other people's horrific problems. Unfortunately this series has overstayed its welcome.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing a copy of this book.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
2½ stars. [b:Wolfhunter River|36565384|Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake, #3)|Rachel Caine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530515792s/36565384.jpg|58303559] is my least favourite book in this series so far. It's obvious why, too. I still enjoy the author's style, I still enjoy the exploration of internet stalking and the "court of public opinion", but this book is so obviously a "bridging the gap" book.
If you've read [b:Killman Creek|35329101|Killman Creek (Stillhouse Lake, #2)|Rachel Caine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503518302s/35329101.jpg|56695052], then you know the significance of that book's conclusion and how it essentially wrapped up the central story line of the first two books. With strong characters and a good fanbase, of course the author doesn't want to stop there. But now we need a new story to grow out of that. We need a reason for Gwen Proctor - badass mother of two - to go from being on the run to solving her own crimes. Which was always the natural direction for this series to go in.
In order to do that, we have this book. This book is, unfortunately, the filler between two plot points. It clings unnecessarily to old plot lines that should have been put to rest. It introduces some new mysteries that serve only to get Gwen where she needs to be. Virtually nothing happens for the first hundred pages (approx. 1/3 of the book), and little progression is made even in the second hundred pages. It isn't until the last third of the book that the story gets itself in gear. None of this is helped by the fact that I don't find Sam very interesting, so his subplot here left me unmoved.
It's not bad, as such, it's just not as strong as the previous books. I suspect more goodness is to follow in the fourth book now that we've got where we need to be. I still ended up quite enjoying parts of this one because of the aforementioned exploration of internet stalking and the "court of public opinion". These feature heavily in the series, and the author looks at how terrifying it is that we no longer need a court trial and prison. The court of public opinion can punish someone and ruin their life just as effectively, truth be damned.
It also explores some interesting and socially-relevant concepts like privacy in the Internet age. Sharing of information plays a huge part in the plot, as well as other techie aspects like manipulating images/video. These conversations keep the slower parts intriguing.
A weak point in the series but I still have high hopes for the next installment.
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If you've read [b:Killman Creek|35329101|Killman Creek (Stillhouse Lake, #2)|Rachel Caine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503518302s/35329101.jpg|56695052], then you know the significance of that book's conclusion and how it essentially wrapped up the central story line of the first two books. With strong characters and a good fanbase, of course the author doesn't want to stop there. But now we need a new story to grow out of that. We need a reason for Gwen Proctor - badass mother of two - to go from being on the run to solving her own crimes. Which was always the natural direction for this series to go in.
In order to do that, we have this book. This book is, unfortunately, the filler between two plot points. It clings unnecessarily to old plot lines that should have been put to rest. It introduces some new mysteries that serve only to get Gwen where she needs to be. Virtually nothing happens for the first hundred pages (approx. 1/3 of the book), and little progression is made even in the second hundred pages. It isn't until the last third of the book that the story gets itself in gear. None of this is helped by the fact that I don't find Sam very interesting, so his subplot here left me unmoved.
It's not bad, as such, it's just not as strong as the previous books. I suspect more goodness is to follow in the fourth book now that we've got where we need to be. I still ended up quite enjoying parts of this one because of the aforementioned exploration of internet stalking and the "court of public opinion". These feature heavily in the series, and the author looks at how terrifying it is that we no longer need a court trial and prison. The court of public opinion can punish someone and ruin their life just as effectively, truth be damned.
It also explores some interesting and socially-relevant concepts like privacy in the Internet age. Sharing of information plays a huge part in the plot, as well as other techie aspects like manipulating images/video. These conversations keep the slower parts intriguing.
A weak point in the series but I still have high hopes for the next installment.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i was interested to see where this story would go after the ending in the second book and it seems like it's now trying to turn to a typical investigator/detective series where the main character solves a new case each book.
i still liked this installment but the story is getting a little tired now. i like the characters, their relationships still feel real and raw, but at the same time, it does all start to feel a little repetitive. i'm curious to see where else the story goes from here but i think i'm starting to see the formula now. still a fun read though!
i still liked this installment but the story is getting a little tired now. i like the characters, their relationships still feel real and raw, but at the same time, it does all start to feel a little repetitive. i'm curious to see where else the story goes from here but i think i'm starting to see the formula now. still a fun read though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder
adventurous