The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

Hardcover, 336 pages

Publication: February 18th 2020

Publisher: Berkley

ISBN 0440000173

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James is quite possibly one of the best suspenseful ghost stories I’ve read in a long time. It jumps right in to the action and suspense, creating an eerie atmosphere combined with a chilling murderer and creepy things that go bump in the night.

"Come on in the building seemed to say with its jagged up-and-down lights, its blue and yellow neon cheeriness. Get some sleep. Take it easy until the sun comes up again. And if you see someone sitting at the end of your bed, pay them no mind. That's just one of my secrets. And I'm not going to tell."

Welcome to The Sun Down Motel located in Fell, New York. It’s 1982 and young Viv has started as night clerk to fund her dream of becoming an actress in New York City. But something just isn’t right at The Sun Down and as Viv digs deeper, she discovers the history it holds is ominous and dark.

The night it all ended, Vivian was alone... She felt like crying. She felt like screaming. She felt sick.
"I don't want to go in there. But I will. Because I always do."

Jump forward to 2017 and 20-year-old Carly arrives in Fell, looking for answers to her Aunt Viv’s mysterious disappearance 35 years prior. A disappearance that was never solved and no one in Carly’s family ever talked about. Carly takes a job as The Sun Down Motels night clerk, the very same job her aunt held and starts to look for answers.

Cleverly written in alternating timelines, The Sun Down Motel is so compelling I had a hard time putting it down. The characters are beautifully well-written and developed; I quickly became invested in their plight and worried for their welfare. The weaving of the paranormal into the story is done brilliantly and just so freaking creepy that I had chills for most of the book.

This is a must read for any fan of thrillers, suspense, mystery, and a good ghost story!
A big thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Simone St. James for providing a DRC of The Sun Down Motel in exchange for my honest review.

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