Stillhouse Lake

imagine Capt. Kirk as a cheerleader

Struggled to finish. The narrator sounded like a female Captain Kirk. The main character spent the whole book talking herself up while making unrealistic and often stupid decisions.

64 of 67 people found this review helpful

Too much

Too much goriness
Too much repetition
Leaves you hanging at the end ( sounds like the start of a series)
And did I say too much repetition of the same gory scene description.

153 of 162 people found this review helpful

How does this book have so many stars?

After reading many of the positive reviews I decided to purchase and listen to Stillhouse Lake. I was so excited with the Summary being right up my alley. Wish I could take that back, I am so disappointed! I feel like the narrator didn't have much to work with, the story was ridiculous, I almost stopped listening half way through but decided to push on hoping it would get better. It dragged on and on until, FINALLY, something happened and then left us at a cliff hanger..... The author did not use the intro to really introduce anything and the middle was so boring only the end did anything really happen and then she left us on a cliff hanger? CMON this boring book does not need to be stretched into two! One instance I can remember rolling my eyes is when the main character all worked up asked the man she was sorta dating if he had a gun and to watch her kids. She had initially met this character at a shooting range and knew he was ex military.... like hello yes he has a gun am I the only one keeping up? It felt so forced to me, the whole book. Felt like the author forced an awkward love interest into the book; and that she did little to no research on guns the way she kept repeating the same safety rule like a broken record. Seriously she explained that a gun had to be facing away with the chamber up probably 4 times throughout the book. Save your credit this is not a psychological suspense thriller.

43 of 45 people found this review helpful

Boring. dumb. Sooooo drawn out save your money

This book was insanely boring. Not only was the narrator completely monotone for 13 hours the story kept repeating itself. Every chapter was the same paranoid character talking about saving her kids and hiding. There was zero drama, very little plot and incredibly repetitive dialogue. I kept waiting for it to get better and it came up beyond short. Definitely NOT recommending.

123 of 132 people found this review helpful

Like listening to Siri reading a book to you.

What did you like best about Stillhouse Lake? What did you like least?

I almost returned this book immediately, but I was on a road trip and had nothing else to listen to. The narrator talks in a monotone. It's like listening to Siri reading a book to you. It's hard to see past the terrible performance, but really the story wasn't very good either. None of the characters were believable, and there was no suspense. How is this a best seller?

46 of 49 people found this review helpful

Am I the only one...?

After reading the reviews I decided to use a very precious credit for this book. In particular, several reviewers commented positively on the narrator. Am I the only that struggled with the narration? Ms. Sutton-Smith's voice is good, but the cadence felt all wrong to me. Certain sentences, or sometimes just words spoken too slowly and with a sharp enunciation that felt robotic. It just felt odd that it would randomly happen. I found it distracting to the story. Perhaps it was due to editing more than the narrator?
The story itself was decent and the characters were believable. The heroine was a strong woman and a helluva mother. The family dynamics rang true and the author definitely did well there.
Well played plot twists, and nice suspense.
Overall, a decent use of a credit.

100 of 108 people found this review helpful

Outstanding book! A must for suspense lovers...

This is an excellent book. The suspense is palpable and the build up is superb. This story is so realistic and so believable and so frustrating! My heart goes out to this woman even knowing that she is only a figment of the author's imagination.
Here she is happily going about her life not knowing that her husband is a serial killer. When the truth comes out accidentally she is called his helper and put on trial as an accomplice. She is acquitted but it doesn't matter to the townspeople or the internet stalkers, all those who believe she truly is guilty.
She changes her name, learns how to handle a gun and begins moving from place to place trying to stay anonymous. Somehow she keeps being tracked down and her ex husband continues to send her letters from behind bars.
When first one then a second body turns up at the lake she is living on, she once again finds herself the center of attention and a suspect in the murders.
This is an author I will definitely watch for new books.
Emily Sutton-Smith does a fabulous job narrating.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
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Thank You.

183 of 202 people found this review helpful

Annoying

Found this story annoying and tedious. The author tried too hard with constant metaphors, distracting listener. Found myself irritated with the heroine, questioning her decisions. This is one to skip.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Engaging and Unexpectedly Good!

Ooooh! Don't miss this one. It is a very good story with superior narration and offers the best kind of mystery, twists and turns, deception, and grand finish. I like everything about this book -- even though I wasn't expecting it to be such a standout. Can't give clues or would tarnish the listening experience!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Couldn't Stand Narration or Constant Victim Whining

I usually am in agreement with reviewers, but this time I am not. I could barely get through this book. Only because I hate giving up, that I forced myself to make it to the end. I couldn't muster up too much emotion for the supposed protagonist. I almost couldn't stand her at times, and others I barely tolerated her. Not because she was the naïve wife of a serial killer; but because of her constant whining, anger and bitterness. I listened to another book by Nora Roberts, The Witness, with a young woman who also had a rough scary past that was in hiding and in the run. In that book, I fell in love with the main character, not like this one. I also couldn't stand the constant mental monologues. It made it hard to sometimes know if she was saying these lines or thinking these lines. The narration was one of the worst ever. Very robotic with no cadence, character, inflection or passion expected in an audiobook. Also, I think if you're going to make the woman so full of anger and hate at least let the readers in on what she's going through early on, not later. Also there were too many cliché lines thrown in that didn't even match what was happening. Finally, who goes out for fun shooting session, when you're supposed to be so protective of your children and leave them somewhat alone? The personality trait of this mother did not match that scene. I could say this is one of my least favorite completed audiobooks out of almost a hundred. To each his/her own since many people seemed to like it.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful