Murder Road by Simone St. James

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.

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 be 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.

Goodreads Synopsis

Overall Rating

3/5

Spooky Rating

2/5

Quick Take

Murder Road by Simone St. James had such a great premise, but it lacked heart. I wanted to love this one, but it had too many flaws.

Tell Me More

Well, friends… I was disappointed. 

Murder Road was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. I have been reading all of Simone St. James’ books with a friend, and we started this one as soon as it came out. Simone St. James is the master of paranormal thrillers, and the concept of a book set in the 90s about a haunted road immediately intrigued me. It sounded unlike anything else she has ever done, which should have made this one a home run.

Unfortunately, it lacked the atmospheric tone that her other books possess, and the characters were flat and unlikable. The major “twist” could be seen from a mile away, and apart from a few key details, I would never have known this was set in the 90s if it hadn’t been marketed as such. While some of the paranormal elements were spine tingling and spooky, they were few and far between. This book has been touted as “horror,” but I couldn’t disagree more. It is a very light thriller with forgettable writing and poorly constructed characters and plot. The last few pages were wordy and long-winded to try and wrap up the novel, which seemed so lazy to me – and not at all worthy of Simone St. James. 

Now, I know I am in the minority here. Most people love this one (apart from my friend and I – she rated this one even lower than I did), so read it and see for yourself how the story sits with you. I started this one loving it, but my excitement quickly dwindled. I just expected more from such a prolific author, and I would highly recommend some of her older books instead: Silence for the Dead being my favorite. It just didn’t seem like James put her heart into Murder Road like she did her other novels, and it was really sad to see.