Murder Road

By: Simone St. James

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

©2024 Simone St. James (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"From its nerve-shredding start to its thrilling end, MURDER ROAD steers the reader down creepy backroads, past urban legends so vivid you'd swear they were true, and into the marriage of two damaged souls you can't help but root for. Part love story, part campfire tale, it's a trip well worth taking."—Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The Only One Left

“As creepy and unsettling as a rain-faded wreath and teddy bear found by the side of the road to mark a missing person, Murder Road lingers like a ghost long after it’s finished.”—Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House

"From its terrifying opening to its jaw-dropping conclusion, this thriller has it all—small town secrets, ominous dark deeds after midnight, and a young couple desperate to learn the truth before it costs them their very lives. You will follow this shocking road to its climatic end!”—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Still See You Everywhere

Okay, not outstanding

Murder Road is a disappointment after enjoying some of St. James’s other books. This one simply did not grab me. I was not invested in the characters, and I did not think that the story was that interesting. The only character I liked was Rose. The sisters were annoying, the main characters anodyne, their investigation pretty dull. The background of the story was neither touching nor frightening. I wanted something scary but got lukewarm storytelling and twists/reveals that were just blah. I found the narrator all right but simpering at times. Overall, I’d rate this somewhere in between “must read” and “must avoid.” Maybe worth a credit if you are a devoted St. James fan and can’t bear to miss a book of hers, but you are not missing much if you skip it, either.

I love Simone St. James but this one was a little lite.

I always have appreciated Simone St. James' ability to reel you in with details and character development, and always love the suspense meets supernatural arc her books take. For me, this was boring. I think the premise was really thrilling but the execution was a little middling and confusing, bordering on boring. Will always listen, this was just my least favorite in many years.

It was a great story..

It was an overall great book. A little bit different than her last several. I still recommend it highly from fans of hers. You won't be disappointed.

Another win for Simone St James

Simone St James never disappoints. Creepy, keeps-you-guessing, and a little bit of romance: it’s the perfect combo for a great read.

Really Good Spooky!

Definitely an ominous feel throughout the entire book. The book wouldn’t be the book without the lost girl but it’s a bit much. Everything else is sufficiently creepy. Side stories felt more disjointed than to set up another twist. And for Quinn to be the conclusion - calm and retrospective was tough since he was such an unlikeable character.

Brittany Pressley saves the book by keeping the intensity thru out. She’s amazing at gender, emotional range, and how to convey the creepiest whispers!!! Love her!!!

Great

This was a very enjoyable spooky book. Anither hit! Can't wait for the next one.

Genuinely creepy

I like SSJ’s other books, which are atmospheric and haunted. I loved this one for its downright creepiness.

Sympathetic and interesting characters, a compelling mystery, and a scene I was glad to be listening to in daylight, made Murder Road a fun read.

I’d recommend this one to fans of Dean Koontz. (I think it’s far better than a lot of what Koontz writes, but has a similar feel to it.)

Another Must Read

Scares, Tension and Characters that you care about. Loved it. The book flew by too fast. I miss the characters already.

Nailed It!

I have to say, the last book by Simone St James was NOT my favorite, in fact I left a pretty blunt and brutally honest review. To say she has 100% redeemed herself in my eyes would be an injustice to this book right here. Murder Road was AWESOME! Creepy, suspenseful, scary, bittersweet, engaging, funny... basically if there were a checklist of all the necessary components an "awesome" book has to have to be "awesome", all components would be checked off.
Similarly, the production and performance was PERFECT too! Brittany Pressley gets 5 Stars from me and I will look for her name more often!

Not her best work *SPOILER*

I like Simone St James, she’s written some good stories, but this one wasn’t it. It just kind of dragged out and I was annoyed with the ending. I get that it’s a ghost story and it’s not supposed to be based in reality, but I rolled my eyes so hard at some points that my retinas almost detached.

I gave the narration a one because Brittany Presley does this really annoying thing where she sort of rasps on the ends of words and it takes me out of the story. And all of her male character voices sound the same.

*SPOILER*

I get super annoyed when a writer puts in a “twist” that was deemed impossible at first.
Like, April asked Eddie if Shannon could have been his mother, and he said no way. Then… it turns out that Shannon was his mother? Come on, dude.