Laura’s Rating: 5/5 Stars
The Sun Down Motel was popular on shelves a couple years ago, but disappointingly, it appears to have been buried or excluded from recent displays. This book has been on my list for a while now and I wish I had read it sooner!
The Analysis:
35 years ago, Carly’s aunt Viv disappeared from the small town of Fell, New York. She was working the night shift at a motel and mysteriously disappeared without a trace. After her mother’s death, Carly goes on a journey to find out what happened to her aunt. When she gets to Fell, Carly discovers that the town has a dark past and she is determined to uncover all of its secrets.
The story is told from two perspectives: Carly in 2017 and Viv in 1982. Their stories are strikingly similar and details about each timeline are often revealed by an event in the other. Because of the similarities and intertwined events in the lives of Carly and Viv, it was sometimes difficult to keep each perspective separated in my head. While this caused occasional confusion, it also added to the eerie feeling of the book.
The book contains murder and even ghosts, giving it a spooky, yet almost true crime vibe. I love a good thriller but do not always enjoy pure horror so this was the perfect balance with a creepyTwilight Zone-esque tone.
The Sun Down Motel kept me engaged from start to finish and I blew through it in a couple of days, even staying up till 1:00am to finish (whoops). I’ve been recommending this book a lot lately and I think fans of mysteries, crime novels, and ghost stories would enjoy it.
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