When Hailey McBride decides to run away, she thinks her outdoor skills will help her disappear into the Cold Creek wilderness, and she counts on people thinking that she was another victim of a killer who has kidnapped women for years along Cold Creek Highway. One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek to attend a memorial for the victims of the highway, including her sister—and she stays in town to discover who killed her.
... the story is comprised of three distinct parts ... It’s an effective structure, given the women’s equally strong but disparate personalities and life experiences, which are essential to establishing their actions and underlying motivations ... Dark Roads is a triumphant return for Chevy Stevens, proving that some things are indeed worth the wait. Seldom are characters, setting, and premise imbued with such depth and nuance, each bolstering the others to form a collective and cohesive whole that surpasses its singularly impressive parts. The result is a nerve-shredding tale of sacrifice and survival that lingers long after the last line has been read.
Chevy Stevens...has been a go-to writer for solid, intricately plotted thrillers featuring very real characters who find themselves in extreme situations. Her latest novel, Dark Roads, might rank as one of her best ... The inevitable occurs when Chevy Stevens, in a brilliant bit of plotting, introduces Beth to Hailey when they meet on the mountain. They individually and collectively continue their hunt for the truth—and they might not like what they find. The finale is tense and features quite a shocker, proving that Dark Roads is well worth the trip.
At first, Cold Creek seems just like any other far-Northwestern small town. What makes it sinisterly different, though, is the highway ... A well told and all-too-believable tale, Dark Roads borrows from the real-life tragedies along the Highway of Tears in British Columbia. It's a surprisingly fast read, full of action, surprises, despair and hope. It's a keeper for thriller fans.
