I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had some trepidations before going into this book. I'd liked but not loved the previous novel 'Stillhouse Lake', but was intrigued enough to know more. I'm glad I did. This was a great dramatic thriller with some excellent characters and plot.
This follows almost directly from where Stillhouse Lake finished. Gwen Proctor, ex-wife of serial killer Melvin Royal, is trying desperately to keep her children safe while playing the hunter and the hunted to Mel and his followers games. With the help of Sam, neighbour, sometimes lover and brother of one of Mel's last victim, she's determined to get one step ahead of the race and kill or be killed in the attempt to track Mel down.
This felt a lot more polished than its predecessor. The characters are more refined and intelligent. Gwen, far from playing the victim or merely trying to hide her children from harm, takes front seat and centre stage here. She's proactive, self assured and just so much better than before. The character development is excellent. Sam is also a strong lead. He's pragmatic, yet suffers internally with what happened to his sister and his guilt I've whether he can trust Gwen or not. It was also a masterstroke to have chapters from his POV. One of my faults with Stillhouse Lake were that is was all from Gwen's perspective, and often her internal monologue got a little grating. To have another view point kept the story fresher.
That said, I was less enamoured with Lanny and Connor's storyline. I often found myself skipping chunks of their story arc so I can return to the faster paced action involving Sam and Gwen. Unfortunately I just found them both slightly irritating and gullible. I got annoyed at their lack of trust in their mother, and the easy way Connor is manipulated- although I can understand why he is. Melvin's looming presence over all the Proctor family is still abundantly clear, and keeping him largely out of the storyline other than through phone calls and texts keeps him as an enigma.
The plot itself, as mentioned, is well paced and entertaining throughout. There are plenty of twists, some which took me by surprise, and I really enjoyed the ending. Again, as with Stillhouse Lake, the use of technology in crime and blackmail was unique and very well done, taking things even further than they were previously. The whole novel had a sort of 'Black Mirror' feel to it, especially the episode 'Shut Up and Dance' where people are blackmailed via anonymous hackers into doing various misdemeanours.
One of the best thrillers I've read in a while.
Killman Creek is available to purchase now from: Amazon
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