yvo_about_books 's review for:

The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin

3.5

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Finished reading: October 28th 2022

"Though I knew better than most that blocking something out doesn't make it go away."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Sphere in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I have a weak spot for stories with a remote location, and especially if there is a healthy dose of danger thrown in. That's probably why it's no surprise that I simply HAD to add The Second Stranger to my shelves straight away. I mean, have you seen the blurb?! The remote Scottish Highlands hotel setting, the storm and bad weather, the two strangers both claiming to be a police officer, the escaped prisoner... There was no way on earth I was going to be able to resist all that. And as a whole, this story turned out to be quite entertaining indeed, although it starts off stronger than it finishes.

It is without doubt the Scottish Highlands setting that is the star of the show for me. The Mackinnon hotel kind of gave me The Shining vibes, with the hotel being almost empty in preparation for a remodel starting the next day. Add the remote setting, the bad weather and the ominious atmosphere, and it was almost like visiting the little brother of the Overlook Hotel. Storm Ezra and the descriptions of the weather in general helped creating the right atmosphere, and the storm was key in the plot because certain things would have never happened otherwise.

The idea of having two strangers turn up and both claiming to be the same police officer is very clever. Especially since both Gaines One and Gaines Two act a bit shady at times, and it is basically almost impossible to guess who is the real Gaines and who is the prisoner. Remie Yorke made for an interesting main character and while I never completely liked her and I don't agree with all of her choices, I do admire her for never giving up. The flashbacks to her past and her brother did slow down the pace for me, but I do understand why they were incorporated as they help explaining things later on.

The Second Stranger starts out strong, and the whole mystery around who the real Gaines is and the cost of getting it wrong for the characters always hangs above your head. The atmospheric descriptions of the hotel and its surroundings only added to the ominous vibe, and it's definitely what kept me reading. I do have to say that once the identity of the real Gaines is revealed, things seem to slow down a little and the plot itself started to be less and less credible. Especially the final chapters were too over the top and neatly wrapped up to be plausible for me, and as a result the ending wasn't really all that satisfying.

That said, in general I did have a great time reading The Second Stranger. If you enjoy thrillers with a remote location, a creepy atmosphere and danger lurking around every corner, this story will probably work for you as well.