Review: Killman Creek by Rachel Caine (audio)

Title: Killman Creek

Author: Rachel Caine

Series: Stillhouse Lake, #2

Narrator: Emily Sutton-Smith, Lauren Ezzo, Will Ropp, Dan John Miller

Published: December 2017, Brilliance Audio / Thomas & Mercer

Length: 11 hours 55 minutes

Source: Audio – Personal copy via Audible / Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley via Publisher

Summary: 

Every time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.

Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband,
serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices.
But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since
she received a chilling text…

 

You’re not safe anywhere now.

Her refuge at Stillhouse Lake has become a trap. Gwen leaves her
children in the protective custody of a fortified, well-armed neighbor.
Now, with the help of Sam Cade, brother of one of Melvin’s victims, Gwen
is going hunting. She’s learned how from one of the sickest killers
alive.

But what she’s up against is beyond anything she feared—a
sophisticated and savage mind game calculated to destroy her. As trust
beyond her small circle of friends begins to vanish, Gwen has only fury
and vengeance to believe in as she closes in on her prey. And sure as
the night, one of them will die.

My thoughts: I think I might have a new favorite author and series…Rachel Caine has managed to blow things out of the water with her Stillhouse Lake series, and we’re only on book 2 so far! But word of caution before reading any further in this review…if you haven’t read book 1 of this series, Stillhouse Lake, I highly suggest not reading any further…Killman Creek is a sequel and picks up right where the previous books ends. This second book contains spoilers for what happens in that first book. Read this series in order…it’s meant to be read that way!

When I say Stillhouse Lake was only the beginning, I am not kidding. But I loved that while these two books are both incredibly addicting, intense and twisty, they are also different. This time around, we have multiple characters telling the story – partly because the family isn’t together the whole time. Now that Melvin has escaped from prison, Gwen is on the hunt to find him before he gets her, so she along with Sam Cade take off, leaving her children in the care of two people she most trusts. So we have Gwen, Sam and the two children narrating parts of the story – I loved this. I loved getting inside all their heads, hearing how they were all handling what was happening. It adds another element to the story.

This book is also more action-packed than the previous one. Again, I liked this distinction and I think it made sense given all that was going on. This story line moves fast – a lot is going on, a lot is thrown at us…it’s intense! It really keeps you on your toes as you aren’t quite sure what is going to come next. 

I really enjoyed this thriller and liked that for the most part everything is tied up by the end. I’m quite curious to see where book 3 takes us…it’s a bit of a wait, but I’ll definitely be reading it!!!




Audio thoughts: I loved having multiple narrators for this audio book – I think it made sense since the book was told from multiple points of view and each person had their own narrator. A few of the narrators were new to me – Lauren Ezzo, Will Ropp, and Dan John Miller – and I love when I get to find new narrators. I thought they did a great job, along with Emily Sutton-Smith, who is an old favorite. I really enjoyed listening to this audio book – I thought the pacing was good and each of the narrators added just the right amount of tension to their voices when needed.

Books in this series: 

1. Stillhouse Lake
2. Killman Creek
3. Wolfhunter River – due out October 2018