Heartbreak Bay is the 5th Stillhouse Lake procedural thriller by Rachel Caine. Due out 9th March 2021 from Amazon on their Thomas & Mercer imprint, it's 336 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
This was a well written book with an engaging protagonist and very well built up scenery and an undeniable sense of place. Ms. Caine writes very capably and the setting was very real for me throughout. Although this is the 5th book in the series, I had no trouble reading it as a standalone book or keeping track of the characters and understanding their relationships with one another secondary to the plot.
My only problems came from the graphic brutality and on-page violence. This is, admittedly, clearly marketed as a procedural serial killer thriller - I'm definitely not placing the blame elsewhere than my own curiosity in picking it up. The writing and pacing are quite good, the plotting and narrative arc move along at a solid pace, and the climax and denouement were tension filled and scary. I think the elements which were drawbacks for me personally will be counted as advantages for fans of the genre.
Scary and tense but well written. Four stars. I would recommend it for fans of Thomas Harris, Kendra Elliot, Jeffrey Deaver, and John Sandford. *brr*.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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