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There are currently 45 member reviews
for The Sun Down Motel
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Chris R., Lake County Public Library, IN
Creepy, paranormal mystery
The Sun-Down is a place that time forgot -- but its ghosts have not. Two young women are determined to uncover the motel's secrets. Even though their stories occur 35 years apart, the similarity of their personalities, surroundings, and activities sometimes blurs the dual narratives. Nonetheless, the plot is clever and packed with impressive amateur detecting. The author pushes too hard at the idea that young women are easy prey for evil men but, she's not wrong! Though not as compelling as her previous novel, The Broken Girls, the blend of mystery and horror in The Sun Down Motel is suspenseful and creepy enough to satisfy most readers of either genre.
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Marybeth T. (Bellingham, WA)
Scary!!
I was drawn to this book by the cover. This is a beautiful cover and so intriguing. The book was just as good. I'm not really a ghost story person but this worked for me.
I will say that when I was reading it at night I got a little uncomfortable. This is a fast paced and interesting read.
Highly, Highly recommend!!!
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RI (NJ)
The Sun Down Motel
If you like a creepy thriller that you can't put down, this is the book for you. The story is alternatively told between two characters, Carly in 2017 and her Aunt Viv in 1982, who has been missing since then. Haunted by the disappearance of her Aunt Viv, Carly travels to Fell, New York to find the truth about what happened. Carly ends up working as the night clerk at the Sun Down Hotel, the same job her aunt had thirty-five years earlier. The same eerie things happen to both of them while working there, involving murders and the supernatural. After finding out what each discovers along the way, the whole thing comes together in a very calamitous ending.
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Peggy T. (Richardson, TX)
Vacancy! Cable TV!
As a fan of Simone St James, I was not sure I would like this book as much as the previous books of hers that I have read because the others were all set in the period between WWI and WWII. That time period seems a better milieu for her ghostly gothic novels.
However, within about 15 pages of reading, I was hooked on this one too. I could not put it down and I was totally taken in by the twist at the ending. Very satisfying read.
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Ian M., McFarland, Wisconsin
Two Great Mysteries in One Spooky Motel
The Sun Down Motel is a quick and enjoyable read that will appeal to baby boomers and millennials.
The novel consists of two converging mysteries taking place at the eponymous motel, 35 years apart. St. James is adept at jumping back-and-forth between the two mysteries to keep the reader invested in both.
Several major characters are a bit shallow, the supernatural elements are more icing than cake, and the ending is a bit anticlimactic. Yet, these flaws don't spoil the read.
Sun Down Motel is fun and engaging. A great page-turner and a solid recommend.
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Catharine L. (Petoskey, MI)
Creepy Mystery
The book got off to a slow start but became a page turner. The setting is small town Fell, NY. The chapters alternate between Viv in 1982 and her niece, Carly, in 2017, who is investigating the disappearance of her aunt. In my opinion , the ghostly inhabitants of the motel did not add to the plot, and the creepy door-to-door salesman character should have been more developed. All in all, the book was entertaining - a good fall/winter read.
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Madeline M (Florida)
Haunted and Haunting
I so enjoy the work of Ms. St. James, and I was thrilled to get my hands on an ARC of her newest novel. Creepy scenes had me looking up from the page to make sure I was actually alone in the room, while other moments had me thinking about all the lost girls in the world.
I did struggle with connecting to the present day storyline and the POV character. However, the past storyline and the POV character of Vivian Delaney were utterly haunting.
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