Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine: Book Review

How well do you know anyone? You might meet people every day, but still, do you know the real them? Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine takes us for a wild ride making us question the very thing,

And it is not a surprise to know that it has been on the Amazon Top Charts for more than eight weeks now. Read on to know more about the top selling serial killer novel Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine right ahead.

Have you read Stillhouse lake by Rachel Caine yet? Do you mind reading books ending with a cliffhanger? Do you watch out for the Amazon best seller list? Let us talk. Click To Tweet

About Stillhouse lake by Rachel Caine

Stillhouse lake

Book Name: Stillhouse Lake

Series: Gwen Proctor #1

Author: Rachel Caine

Genre: Fiction – Thriller

Characters: Gwen Proctor, Melvin Royal, Lancel Graham, Sam Cade

Setting: The USA

Plot Summary of Stillhouse lake

Gina Royal is a happy stay at home mother for her kids and is happily married to Melvin. Her life falls apart when a drunk driver wrecks their garage, exposing the remains of the heinous murders her husband had committed. She is tried as an accomplice and acquitted later, while Mel is sentenced to death row.

Fearing the Internet threats and the trolls, that she dubs as Sicko Patrol, Gina renames herself Gwen Proctor, a fearless mom who will do anything to protect her teens . Gwen could have been her last identity change until the serial killing starts again just around her neighborhood. She continues to fear her husband’s threats and doesn’t know whom to trust.

What length would she go to save her kids and her own sanity? Read Stillhouse lake by Rachel Caine to find out.

Book review of Stillhouse lake

Stillhouse Lake is a fast paced thriller that is not your breezy summer read. The well placed twists would keep you hooked until the last page. The reader is as confused as Gwen about the people she could trust and things she should stay away from.

Stillhouse lake talks a lot about the dark side of the Internet. It is terrifying that all the threats and abuses she and her kids have been facing are possible in today’s world.

Stillhouse Lake review baffles me

There are a few plot holes that I am trying hard not to nitpick, but the whole premise works only on those flimsy grounds. For instance, Gina was married for ten years and she has never been into her husband’s garage, where he hid, raped, abused, and killed several women.

Gina trusts someone who had been against her from the beginning. And this baffles me: is it even possible in this real life that there are thousands of people who want to kill a family when they were not even related to the murders, especially in this self-absorbed world where we talk about any social issue only until the next one crops up?

The creepy serial killer angle works great, but no other characters are likable. Usually I like women protagonists who are stong and fight back, but Gwen did nothing of that sort, except being so predictable and stupid.

The book ends with a cliffhanger which may or not work for you. Though much has been said about Stillhouse Lake ending with a cliffhanger in the book world, the book works well as the first installment in a series to come and as a standalone too. I didn’t mind that some questions have not been answered.

Stillhouse Lake review bad writing

While the plot and premise are refreshingly new, the writing leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth. If keeping the story moving was all that the author aimed at, well she succeeded. There are girls tortured and killed, kids kidnapped and one character is sent to death row and yet I am thinking about the bad writing. Yes that was the level of emotional connection I had to the characters.

The badly written monologue that repeated in every chapter annoyed me. The author commits more than once the cardinal sin of telling but not showing. She tells the reader what to see, what to feel rather than letting us learn by action or context. It irritated the crap out of me.

Bottom line

Despite all these misgivings I was not able to put Stillhouse lake by Rachel Caine down until the last page. So if you are looking a fast paced thriller like The Girl on the Train this is your poison, pick it right away.

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Let us chat

Have you read Stillhouse lake by Rachel Caine yet? Do you mind reading books ending with a cliffhanger? Do you watch out for the Amazon best seller list? Let us talk.

34 Comments

  1. Alexis H.

    If I had time to read this sounds like a fantastic book. I deffiinatly will be suggesting it to my mother who is a murder mystery fan!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      This one is definitely interesting and let me know how she likes it.

      Reply
  2. Amanda McGill

    Great review! I just added this one to my to-reads!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Yay, glad you found it useful

      Reply
  3. Melissa's fandom world

    Great review! Looks like an interesting read 🙂

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Yes it was.

      Reply
  4. Mandi Schneck

    I’ve seen a lot about this book, and I love the creepy vibes the cover gives off. Glad to hear it lives up to the hype-will have to check it out now for sure!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I would have loved too but for the Cliffhanger.

      Reply
  5. Stormi

    Wonderful review! I really need to read this author soon.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I hope you will enjoy it as well.

      Reply
  6. DJ Sakata

    You had me until I saw cliffhanger – ack- hate those!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Right? Those are the worst. What purpose do they serve!

      Reply
  7. Christina

    I think I enjoyed this one a bit more than you but I think you wrote a well rounded, honest review!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I saw your review of this one recently and I am glad you enjoyed it better.

      Reply
  8. Floryie

    Is it a Rachel Caine week or something? This is the second time I have seen a book by that author around..
    I have her on my TBR and her books sound just like my favourite reads..

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I liked everything about her writing except that it ends with cliffhanger. I can never forgive that!!

      Reply
    • Gayathri

      You should check this out.

      Reply
  9. Jessica | ReadingwithJessica

    I love thrillers but not big on stories with rape in them. I would have too many nightmares reading about that. I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you have any more thrillers to rec, i'd love to hear about them 🙂

    Reply
  10. Priyadarshini Rajendran

    Interesting..looks like I should pick it up right away!

    Reply
  11. Shileen

    Yikes! I typically don't read books of this genre nor do I watch this kind of movie. They freak me out! ha ha

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I get it. Lotsa times horror novels scare the hell outta me and I don’t sleep for nights together.

      Reply
  12. Raeshal Solomon

    It's amazing you make this book sound like a great read but then you say it's badly written. Thank you. You give me hope for my books. Smile

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I try to write both the negatives and positives about the book. A book can’t be all good or all wrong, right?

      Reply
  13. Terri

    Good review. I agree with the others about it being strange that she never went in the garage.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      There are few major hiccups all through but it still works if we choose to ignore them.

      Reply
  14. DJ Sakata

    Excellent review – I've been wanting to read this one

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      The book is being talked about everywhere, right? I was kinda disappointed though.

      Reply
    • Gayathri

      Thanks

      Reply
    • Gayathri

      Let me know how you like it.

      Reply
  15. Book Ink Reviews

    I don't ever mind cliffhangers. I expect them when I read a series. But SHE NEVER WAS IN HIS GARAGE? Um. Right. That would bother me a lot, too.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      That is one of the points that kept irking me. How was that even possible? Not even once in 8-10 years?

      Reply

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Gayathri

Gayathri

Gayathri has been reviewing books since 2010. When she is not reading books or creating online content, she works as a writer and a digital marketer. Head over to meet me!