Graham Downs reviewed Sun down Motel by Simone St. James
Review of 'Sun down Motel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is a great mystery story with some paranormal elements.
It’s told in two time periods (1982 and 2017), and in that respect, it reminds me a little of [b:The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574805682l/22557272.SX50.jpg|41107568]. I like that style of story-telling, but to be honest, I was more interested in the 1982 timeline than the 2017 one. Maybe that’s just because I’m such a nostalgic guy.
There are ghosts in the hotel in both timelines, but I don’t think that qualifies this book to be called a “horror” because (unlike some other reviewers) I didn’t find that aspect scary. It was a little creepy in the beginning, but you learn to accept them as part of the story world fairly early on, and they become just a vehicle to drive the mystery forward. It’s very well done.
The editing is pristine. I don’t remember …
This is a great mystery story with some paranormal elements.
It’s told in two time periods (1982 and 2017), and in that respect, it reminds me a little of [b:The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574805682l/22557272.SX50.jpg|41107568]. I like that style of story-telling, but to be honest, I was more interested in the 1982 timeline than the 2017 one. Maybe that’s just because I’m such a nostalgic guy.
There are ghosts in the hotel in both timelines, but I don’t think that qualifies this book to be called a “horror” because (unlike some other reviewers) I didn’t find that aspect scary. It was a little creepy in the beginning, but you learn to accept them as part of the story world fairly early on, and they become just a vehicle to drive the mystery forward. It’s very well done.
The editing is pristine. I don’t remember finding a single typo or missing/incorrectly used word or punctuation mark. Which is very rare, believe you me. There was a continuity issue at one point, where the main character gets let into someone’s house and sits in their kitchen, and then a few paragraphs down, we read that she gets led into the kitchen (“Erm, she’s already IN the kitchen!” was my reaction).
Also, like most thriller/horror style books, human beings can withstand injuries WAY worse than they should be able to. Like the man who carries on a long-winded conversation after having a knife plunged into his chest. Or the woman who falls into an empty swimming pool and reports immense pain, and a grating sound, when she tries to rotate her shoulder, only to be walking around an hour later as if nothing happened, and refusing medical attention.
The twist was... absolutely amazing. I didn’t see it coming in the slightest, and truthfully, it’s the reason I gave this book four stars instead of three.
All-in-all, I thought this book was well worth the hype.
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