Hello Dear Readers!
Sorry, for the delay with book club updates! COVID-19 seems
to defenestrate our daily schedules! To catch up- Book Club read Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine for our
February 2020 read. It is a first in series novel (although after reading it, I
don’t know if I have the guts to jump into book two!) Anyways, Wowzers! I have
read Ms. Caines YA series and this was definitely not anything like those. She
went deep and dark. The pace in the beginning, maybe about a quarter or so of
the book, is a bit slow setting up the plot, daily lives of the family, flashes
into how AWFUL the ex-husband/dad is with his serial killer history (or is it
just history?!) and the characters. Then, BAM!, the book explodes into action
and I cannot imagine living with the constant adrenaline ups and downs,
emotional baggage and precautions the Proctor family live with and through.
One thing I appreciated about the story is that it really
made me think and expand my understanding on victims of crimes, especially
prolific murderers, and that there are more than “the usual” types of victims
out there. Beyond the victims and their families, it is the family of the
criminals left behind that are (or can be) victims, innocent to what is/was
going on around them. Stillhouse Lake
uses that as the impetus for us to follow Gwen and her teenage kids, surviving
day to day after they find out their husband/father was a horrific serial
killer. With him in jail, they are blamed and stalked for crimes they had
nothing to do with or knowledge of. The support system for the family of the
murderers is definitely not set up for help, safety and mental health. However, for us dear readers, it makes for a
thrilling tale of suspense.