Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens #BookReview #Fiction #MysteryThrillers #PsychologicalThrillers #Murder #Suspense — Rain’n’books
My Rating
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Chevy Stevens’ Dark Roads is not an easy book to listen to and I honestly would have felt a little more comfortable reading this rather than listening to the audiobook. Narrated excellently by Angela Dawe; Brittany Pressley; Isabella Star LaBlanc, Dark Roads by Chevy Steven is essentially a dark and haunting book that chills the soul and creeps the hell out of you.
The author describes the true story that inspired this tale of darkness and I can’t begin to imagine the anguish and trauma that each of the unfortunate families had to endure over the years. The missing woman, the murders, and not a clue to be found and unsolved for such a lot of time, it defies imagination.
Dark Roads explores the fictional Cold Creek Highway where a murderer lurks and girls are warned not to hitchhike or be alone at night for fear of falling prey to the danger hidden around the area. Chevy Stevens’ writing was exceptional, she literally had me scared shitless throughout the book. The description utterly oozes evil on every page, the reader is made to feel the claustrophobic murkiness that is waiting to devour you. I am sure the effect was made worse with the experience of listening to the book, as I had to suffer the panic of helplessness, as Hailey and Johnny, find themselves unable to do anything to go against sheriff Vaughn. The first part of the book that ends with Hailey and her dog Wolf almost near death, and the beginning of the second chapter introducing Beth had me scampering, wondering if I missed a chapter, but once the connections and the weaving of the story thru Beth and Hailey becomes clearer, the story explodes with a menace that was waiting to pounce on the girls. The violence was again difficult to wrap my head around but I loved how Hailey becomes like a teenage ninja and kicks ass.
The warm friendship and love between Hailey and Johnny and Wolf the dog who becomes the glue helping Hailey and Beth were wonderful and honestly, Wolf is a best friend anyone would die for and I thank the author for that spot of brightness in this disturbing story.
Goosebumps!
The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.
Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer-who’s claimed another victim over the summer.
One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived-and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back-and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…
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Originally published at https://rainnbooks.com on February 20, 2023.
