REVIEW: Killman Creek

Killman Creek
Author: Rachel Caine

Gwen Proctor is a new person ever since she was acquitted of helping her husband, Melvin Royal, murder women. She changed her name and went on the run from internet weirdos trying to locate and do harm to her and her children. Some people believe she did help her serial killer husband, so she feels unsafe everywhere they go...like some wacko could appear out of nowhere at any time.  Then her husband escapes from prison, and she discovers that her new identity was never secure. She leaves her two children with two people she can trust and goes hunting Melvin. But Melvin isn't the only danger. Someone is playing a very intricate game designed to destroy her entire life and make those closest to her believe she is guilty.

Killman Creek is the second book in the Stillhouse Lake series. The first book is excellent and ends in a cliff hanger, so I jumped into this second book almost immediately. This one has a bit of a different feel to it. This time the story line changes point of view, switching from the kids, to Gwen, to her friend Sam, and others. Gwen is the point of view used for a majority of the story, but you get a taste of how the people closest to her feel about the situation. I didn't really like the switch ups, but given some of the major plot points with people wondering if she's a murderer and liar, it did help further the plot. I think most of my problem with it was the sections involving the kids. Some of their dialogue and actions almost turned this book into more of a melodramatic, YA-like emotional rant. I have to admit that as I listened to the audiobook, I fast forwarded past some of the teenage angst. It interfered with the suspense and went on too long. I get it -- their dad is a killer, they are tired of moving, and they think their mom may have helped him. But 20 minutes of childish rants and stupid decisions just pulled me out of the story for too long and some of their decisions were just over-the-top ridiculous. BUT....I will add that once the action turned to moving towards the final conclusion of this story, every point of view was necessary, and the switchups redeemed themselves, adding to the suspense at that point rather than making me roll my eyes. Don't get me wrong -- this is a great book and I enjoyed it. I just felt some of the sections using the kids' POV just went on too long and were just a bit too cheesy melodramatic.

The pace (except in a couple spots where it got bogged down in the kiddos stuff) moves along at a good speed, the suspense builds nicely, and the ending was satisfying for the most part. I did hope for a bit more Melvin -- but I was happy enough at how the story ends. I think there were some actions by other characters that Gwen accepted and forgave a bit too easily, especially a couple choices by Sam and her kids. The ending seemed a bit too smooth with Gwen never really confronting some things done by those closest to her.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. At just under 12 hours long, the audio version had voice actors for the different main characters and was very well done. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand the entire production. It took me a bit to get used to a couple of the voices, but I was able to immerse myself in the story.

Another book in this series, Wolfhunter River, is coming out in October 2018. Not sure what the plot might be for this next book, but I will definitely be reading it! Excellent series!