THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St. James
Berkley; 2/18/20
CBTB Rating: 5/5
The Verdict: an unputdownable mystery-meets-ghost story
Confession time: I used to hate mysteries with supernatural elements. Then I started reading Simone St. James. I’m a latecomer to St. James’ work, but in the relatively brief time I’ve been following her, she has transformed my reading habits. Beginning with St. James’ breakout novel The Broken Girls, and similarly reflected in her brand-new suspense novel The Sun Down Motel, St. James’ writing bears her trademark blend of very earthly intrigue and otherworldly suspense—and this blend has won me over. In St. James’ hands, the psychological thriller gets a welcome makeover: her books are fresh, utterly addictive examples of the very best in mystery-meets-ghost story, and The Sun Down Motel is my favorite book of hers yet. Masterfully straddling two timelines, The Sun Down Motel drops readers into a small town in upstate New York—a place where time seems to have stood still, and the ghosts of the past might be a bit more literal than you’d imagine. Following a young woman who travels to Fell, New York in pursuit of the truth about her aunt’s mysterious disappearance in the same town, The Sun Down Motel will entrance with a rich sense of place, 80’s nostalgia, and an utterly gripping - and genuinely creepy - mystery. Here we have a compelling family drama, a modern ghost story, and a gripping mystery all wrapped up in one irresistible package. I loved The Sun Down Motel, and I’m betting you will, too.
Plot Details:
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
It takes a special book to make me thankful for my hour-long commute to work, and that is perhaps the best summation of my feelings for The Sun Down Motel. From page one, I was utterly gripped by Simone St. James’ newest offering. St. James is an expert at crafting atmosphere and sense of place, and this was perhaps the first quality of her newest novel that hooked me. From the outset, readers find themselves carried away from wherever they may be sitting reading, and dropped into the heart of Fell, New York: a small town upstate in which very little has changed since the 1980’s. Fell is a town rich with history—and, as outsider Carly Kirk is about to find out, not all of that history is good. Carly, our story’s protagonist, travels to Fell to solve a mystery that has haunted her family for decades: the mysterious disappearance of her aunt, Viv, who worked as a night clerk at a roadside motel in Fell, and one night vanished from her job without a trace. The story of her aunt has always equal parts fascinated and disturbed Carly, and she is determined to uncover the truth. So what’s an enterprising young woman on a mission to solve a family mystery to do? Move to the same town where her aunt disappeared, of course… and take the same job her aunt used to have, too.
The Sun Down Motel brilliantly navigates dual timelines, allowing readers to follow Carly in the present and Viv in the past as both women navigate the dark underbelly of a quiet, small town. It is entirely to the author’s credit how effortlessly these timelines are juggled; readers will never feel lost or distracted by the story’s shifting decades, but will instead find each moment spent in the past and present more riveting than the last. In the present timeline, readers will follow outsider Carly as she settles into Fell and begins to investigate the town’s history in hopes of discovering what happened to her aunt. As Carly’s investigation intensifies, she discovers a shocking truth: Viv wasn’t the only young woman to disappear in Fell. In fact, the town has a long history of women going missing… and the threat might not be over yet. Determined to get closer to the heart of this mystery, Carly takes the very same job her aunt had decades prior: that of the night clerk at the Sun Down, a roadside motel where not much has changed over the years. What Carly doesn’t know is that she is about to experience the same inexplicable events that marked her aunt’s time at the motel, too. In the past, readers follow an unsuspecting Viv, a young woman who dreams of moving to New York. To earn the necessary money for this big move, Viv accepts a job as a night clerk at the Sun Down. Viv’s timeline is pure 80’s nostalgia: Simone St. James vividly evokes an iconic decade here, bringing it to life on the page through impeccable scene-setting details and rich atmosphere. From the outset, readers know that Viv will ultimately disappear, and this knowledge adds a huge dose of tension and suspense to her storyline. Readers will be on the edge of their seats to witness what happens to Viv and to see what Carly uncovers in her own investigation, too. The deeper into this story the reader ventures, the more addictive it becomes. As Carly gets closer to the truth about what happened to Viv, she will encounter hidden secrets in her aunt’s past, individuals with ulterior motives in this small town, and perhaps even a not-so-friendly ghost or two.
There are so very many selling points to The Sun Down Motel: two compelling, complex female protagonists, masterful plotting, a truly intriguing mystery… but the biggest selling point for me personally turned out to be the very thing I used to hate: this story’s supernatural elements. The Sun Down Motel is a story that makes significant use of the supernatural, but don’t let that put you off. Simone St. James is an expert at blending the earthly with the otherworldly, and I found the supernatural elements of The Sun Down Motel truly irresistible. The Sun Down Motel is a genuinely creepy story, one that had my heart racing at more than one moment. This is a true murder mystery-meets-ghost story, and both facets are given equal playing time here. Yes, this story will ultimately have a logical, earthly conclusion, but that doesn’t make the ghosts less real. The Sun Down motel is a place where inexplicable things happen: doors open unexpectedly, cold spots appear without warning, and, every so often, a full-on apparition might be seen. Somehow, though, Simone St. James makes every single otherworldly element of her story feel as authentic as the story’s more earthly plot points. As both Viv and Carly settle into their jobs at the Sun Down in their respective decades, they begin to realize that something is very wrong at their workplace, and that sometimes what you can’t see can hurt you. The ghost story element of The Sun Down Motel is impeccably crafted, thoroughly entertaining, and bound to give you goosebumps. It’s my personal favorite element of an all-around superb suspense story—and when you witness how the supernatural collides with the real world in our story’s cinematic finale, I’m betting you’ll feel the same way.
I read a lot (a lot) of crime and suspense novels, and it takes a truly special book to make me wish I could abandon all other responsibilities in favor of reading. That’s exactly the kind of book Simone St. James has given us in The Sun Down Motel. Expertly plotted, brimming with personality and 80’s nostalgia, and effectively balancing supernatural thrills with a down-to-earth family mystery, this exceptional work of suspense is sure to deliver your next favorite binge-read. For readers skeptical of supernatural suspense, consider borrowing this book from your local library and giving it a try—you may just discover that Simone St. James has won you over, as she did for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley (February 18, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440000173
ISBN-13: 978-0440000174
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