The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James

Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
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Book Review

The Sun Down Motel is set in a seedy, run-down motel in the sleepy, upstate, small town of Fell, New York. In the wake of her mother’s death, twenty-one-year-old Carly arrives in Fell to investigate the disappearance of her aunt Viv thirty-five years before. She ends up working the same job as her aunt, the night shift position at the mysterious Sun Down Motel. But something is not right at the Sun Down. Told in alternating timelines between 1982 and 2017, the Sun Down Motel follows Carly and Viv as they investigate what is really happening at the Sun Down.

I enjoyed this book, but it was not my favorite. I didn’t find it all that creepy. There were definitely a few parts, especially in Viv’s timeline, that gave me chills. There is a supernatural element that just seemed weird and misplaced. It made the story feel cluttered, instead of just focusing on the sole plot, what happened to Viv.

If you are a fan of true crime and ghost stories, the Sun Down Motel is definitely for you. If you are more in the mood for a heart-stopping psychological thriller, maybe skip this one.

Thank you to Goodreads and Berkley for my advanced copy!