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Many of you visit Savings in Seconds to enter the giveaways. I love hosting them for you, and it’s always fun to receive the excited responses to the “You won!” notification emails.  Last month, I won the July new release giveaway at Angel’s Guilty Pleasures so it was my turn to send that excited response!  After browsing Goodreads for a while, I finally decided to request Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine as my prize.  Yay!

(Sorry for the stock photo. I usually try to take my own book pics, but accidentally traded this one before I took photos of it.)

Author Rachel Caine doesn’t try to lull the reader into a false sense of peace with Stillhouse Lake; she dives right in with the action.  The biggest shocker of the book takes place before the actual story, in the prologue which is set about 2 years in the past.  It was a surprising jumping off point for the book, but I didn’t mind.  In the story, “Gwen” is running from her past as the ex-wife of a serial killer.  Trying to protect her children from those who might try to exact revenge, she has learned how to defend herself.  I admired the way she recreated her personality for the sake of her children.  I really connected with her as a mother, willing to do whatever she needed to ensure her kids’ safety.  The fact that book is written in first person, from Gwen’s point of view, meant that her thoughts and emotions were firsthand. This made a difference in the story.

The biggest disappointment came at the end of the book.  I stayed up until about 3 AM to finish Stillhouse Lake because I HAD to know what happened. Then, boom — cliffhanger!  It was like marathon-watching a show then having the dreaded “to be continued” episode at the end.  Even in a series,  a satisfying ending is appreciated, so this was very frustrating for me.   Generally, I don’t pre-order books. I will have to wait until Killman Creek comes out and see if I am interested in reading it.   Fingers are crossed in hopes of a little closure with that one!

What do you think about cliffhangers in books?