Review: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Title: The Sun Down Motel

Author: Simone St. James

Published: February 2020, Berkley

Format: ARC E-copy, 336 pages

Source: Netgalley

Summary: 

Something hasn’t been
right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly
Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate New York, 1982.
Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she
takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York.
But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.

Upstate New York, 2017.
Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv,
who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She
decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns
that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared
in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.

My thoughts: This is the third book I’ve read by Simone St. James and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers of atmospheric thrillers. I have loved each book just a little bit more and find her writing style to be so addicting and all-consuming.

I love when the setting or in this case, a building, has such a presence, that it almost becomes another character in the book. The Sun Down Motel is such a huge part of this book that it definitely feels as if it’s another character, a dark, ominous one at that. Strange things happen at this hotel and the more you read, the more invested you become, desperate to find out just what went on.

I am always a sucker for a good dual narrative and the one that Simone St. James gives us is done so well. You can’t help but become totally caught up in both, wanting to be in both time lines the whole time – at least that’s how I felt. Both characters, Viv and Carly, were so well-developed. I could feel the intensity and at times, I did get a little creeped out, but it’s a ghost story and while not outright scary, it does become creepy in some parts.

This book will keep you guessing all the way to the very end…and I love books like that. It is a totally binge-worthy type of read that you won’t want to put down once you start reading it – just don’t start right before bed, especially if you’re home alone.