Review: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

5 stars for The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.

I don't usually go for books that are told from two points of view, and even more so, one that spans two time periods, in this case, before the millennium in 1982, and after, in 2017. But there are always exceptions to every self-made rule. For this book, the title alone is enough to make me do a double take, add in the all too cheerful-looking book cover of a motel sign complete with a sinister-looking motel with bare trees in the background, and I am all in for a good scare.

The Sun Down is spooky to say the least. The story, ominous and creepy, flows fluidly from the beginning to the end in such a remarkable way that I feel as if I am watching a horror flick from the front-row seat in a big empty movie theatre. I am rooted to my seat literally with the scenes changing and flashing by in my mind's eye.

The good thing about the Sun Down is that it is not just a petrifying story involving a haunted motel and its inhabitants, it is also a puzzle with mystery pieces scattered all over the place, waiting to be found and put back together once more.

On the flip side, it can get confusing as the line between the two perspectives blurred. I have a tendency to lose track of whose view I am on as the past and present seems to merge as one and I find myself wondering whose story (Viv's or Carly's) I have just read.

The Sun Down Motel looks empty, but it is not. If you are looking for a scary story with substance for this Halloween read, this book is the one for you.


Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: 20 Oct 2020

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The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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