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A review by marilynw
Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
4.0
Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
Even though this story is listed as a mystery/thriller, I see more as a mystery/domestic drama. We know pretty quickly that someone is dead and we weren't there for what turns out to be a murder. We see the story unfold from the POVs of a lot of people.
Eden is the dead girl. She's had a rough several years but seems to have settled down while living at the place of an older couple. Jack and his friends, Hannah and Christopher, are in high school. Jack is a bully, Hannah and Christopher are bullied. Hannah hates herself so it's fitting she's spending time with Jack. Christopher is invisible unless people are making fun of him so being "friends" with Jack makes him somebody even if he's a bullied somebody.
Jack and Hannah's families are wealthy, Christopher is from another country, the son of a chef, on the outside in every way. So when Eden's death is investigated, the rich circle the wagons and Christopher is the bait to draw attention away from Jack and Hannah. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things.
There are a lot of adults involved in this mess and each one is either grieving a death of a teenager, trying to throw suspicion off a teenager, and/or trying to throw suspicion on a teenager. Money, excellent lawyers, and cops who have already convicted someone in their own heads, rule the day. The truth is that no one is guilt free, even if they didn't kill Eden. These are not good people, this is not a good place. The story is not a happy one and there will be no feeling of resolution or closure at the end. Life will go on for some and not for others.
Pub: Jan 17, 2023
Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the print and digital copies of this ARC.
Even though this story is listed as a mystery/thriller, I see more as a mystery/domestic drama. We know pretty quickly that someone is dead and we weren't there for what turns out to be a murder. We see the story unfold from the POVs of a lot of people.
Eden is the dead girl. She's had a rough several years but seems to have settled down while living at the place of an older couple. Jack and his friends, Hannah and Christopher, are in high school. Jack is a bully, Hannah and Christopher are bullied. Hannah hates herself so it's fitting she's spending time with Jack. Christopher is invisible unless people are making fun of him so being "friends" with Jack makes him somebody even if he's a bullied somebody.
Jack and Hannah's families are wealthy, Christopher is from another country, the son of a chef, on the outside in every way. So when Eden's death is investigated, the rich circle the wagons and Christopher is the bait to draw attention away from Jack and Hannah. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things.
There are a lot of adults involved in this mess and each one is either grieving a death of a teenager, trying to throw suspicion off a teenager, and/or trying to throw suspicion on a teenager. Money, excellent lawyers, and cops who have already convicted someone in their own heads, rule the day. The truth is that no one is guilt free, even if they didn't kill Eden. These are not good people, this is not a good place. The story is not a happy one and there will be no feeling of resolution or closure at the end. Life will go on for some and not for others.
Pub: Jan 17, 2023
Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the print and digital copies of this ARC.