My Review
This is the second book in the Dark Corners series from Amazon Original Stories. These are short stories that are meant to read in one sitting or so, and promise to give you that quick burst of horror that you’re craving. There are also audiobooks to go along with them, if you choose to listen to the story instead. While I haven’t gone the audiobook route (at least not as of yet, but I might go and listen to them in the future!), I can say that I’m really enjoying this series of books, which are all written by bestselling authors!
“Why do we celebrate the monsters, the destroyers, the killers among us? Me, I prefer to run away. As fast and as far as I can get.”
Eve is a young woman who, after running away from an abusive relationship, stops at a roadside hotel in the middle of nowhere to rest until morning. What she doesn’t expect, however, is the truths that this hotel is going to deliver to her during her stay there.
When Eve stops at The Sleep Tight Hotel, she is armed with some cash, her best friend’s ID, and a revolver, and is greeted by Drew, a friendly manager who helps her to check in and get settled for the night. Eve is not just any young woman out for a drive in need of a night’s rest; in fact, she is trying to get away from her abusive boyfriend – the guy she thought she was in love with and whom she thought loved her, only to be let down in the end.
In the middle of the night, Eve hears some strange noises coming from the room next door, even though Drew has told her that the motel is empty.
The next morning at breakfast, a cop shows up at the door to the motel, looking for a woman who matches Eve’s description. Eve hides and makes an attempt to keep her past (and string of not-so-good deeds) hidden from Drew.
However, nothing stays hidden for long. As some strange events start to unfold, Eve tries to come to terms with her past, and watt has happened to lead her where she is now – even if it is something completely unexpected.
This book was the first book that I have ever read by Lisa Unger. I have a lot of her books, actually, but for some reason I still haven’t picked any of them up. This just sounded like such a great read, and since I am really wanting to make my way through this series of short stories, it was number two on the list, so I didn’t have any reason why not to!
I liked the style of writing in this story. It really was dark and it was so easy to get sucked into the story – in fact, I was hooked from the very first sentence. Since it only took about a half hour or so to read this, I was sort of bummed by how quickly it was over, because it was wonderfully written.
While we didn’t have much time to get to know many of the characters, like Eve’s best friend Madeline, I feel like Eve herself was so incredibly fleshed-out and well-written. I felt like I knew her, kind of the way you really get to know a character in a full length novel. I liked that about this story. A lot. If I can really come to like a character in a short story, what does that say about Lisa Unger’s full length novels? I’m sure I’ve been missing out all these years!
The reason why I only gave it four stars, however, is because I was able to guess the ending within five minutes. I don’t know if that was because I read so many horror and thriller novels, if I watch too many horror movies, or what, but I was bummed that I was able to guess it (and so accurately). That aside, the story was still incredibly thrill
Will I read more works by Lisa Unger? You bet. I love her style of writing, and discovering a new author is always so awesome!
