Killman Creek: Stillhouse Lake, Book 2

The second book of the Stillhouse Lake book is more detailed, criminal and horror filled with an intensity that keeps you hooked. The story unfolds, gets tricky, demented and scary but also keeps the true strength of the lead character at the forefront. Hard to put down and even harder to know (from my professional experience) there are real monsters out there, just like Mel and his followers. Be safe.

Gwen Proctor is a new person ever since she was acquitted of helping her husband, Melvin Royal, murder women. She changed her name and went on the run from internet weirdos trying to locate and do harm to her and her children. Some people believe she did help her serial killer husband, so she feels unsafe everywhere they go...like some wacko could appear out of nowhere at any time. Then her husband escapes from prison, and she discovers that her new identity was never secure. She leaves her two children with two people she can trust and goes hunting Melvin. But Melvin isn't the only danger. Someone is playing a very intricate game designed to destroy her entire life and make those closest to her believe she is guilty.Killman Creek is the second book in the Stillhouse Lake series. The first book is excellent and ends in a cliff hanger, so I jumped into this second book almost immediately. This one has a bit of a different feel to it. This time the story line changes point of view, switching from the kids, to Gwen, to her friend Sam, and others. Gwen is the point of view used for a majority of the story, but you get a taste of how the people closest to her feel about the situation. I didn't really like the switch ups, but given some of the major plot points with people wondering if she's a murderer and liar, it did help further the plot. I think most of my problem with it was the sections involving the kids. Some of their dialogue and actions almost turned this book into more of a melodramatic, YA-like emotional rant. I have to admit that as I listened to the audiobook, I fast forwarded past some of the teenage angst. It interfered with the suspense and went on too long. I get it -- their dad is a killer, they are tired of moving, and they think their mom may have helped him. But 20 minutes of childish rants and stupid decisions just pulled me out of the story for too long and some of their decisions were just over-the-top ridiculous. BUT....I will add that once the action turned to moving towards the final conclusion of this story, every point of view was necessary, and the switchups redeemed themselves, adding to the suspense at that point rather than making me roll my eyes. Don't get me wrong -- this is a great book and I enjoyed it. I just felt some of the sections using the kids' POV just went on too long and were just a bit too cheesy melodramatic.The pace (except in a couple spots where it got bogged down in the kiddos stuff) moves along at a good speed, the suspense builds nicely, and the ending was satisfying for the most part. I did hope for a bit more Melvin -- but I was happy enough at how the story ends. I think there were some actions by other characters that Gwen accepted and forgave a bit too easily, especially a couple choices by Sam and her kids. The ending seemed a bit too smooth with Gwen never really confronting some things done by those closest to her.I listened to the audiobook version of this story. At just under 12 hours long, the audio version had voice actors for the different main characters and was very well done. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand the entire production. It took me a bit to get used to a couple of the voices, but I was able to immerse myself in the story.Another book in this series, Wolfhunter River, is coming out in October 2018. Not sure what the plot might be for this next book, but I will definitely be reading it! Excellent series!

This had me wanting to not stop listening. It felt as if everything were happing in real time. I felt the emotions of the characters. They were brought to life by this author.

I couldn't put the book down. There was so much action and suspense! I highly recommend it! Seriously, so good!

I didn't like this quite as much as the first. But the intensity ramped up nicely and had me turning the pages as quickly as I could. Definitely worth a read; very entertaining!

This book had me feeling many emotions, I loved it because of the twists and turns the story leads you dow.n

3.5 stars. This one had a lot of suspense and was better than the first one. It had violence in it and the story was told from different point of views. Some really good plot twists. A decent read.

Rachel Caine sucks your in and doesn't let go. What a wild ride! I really felt like I knew the characters. I stayed up late at night to read. Great book.

I liked this story as well as the first one. (SEMI-SPOILER ALERT) I was a little worried that the same storyline was going to torture us throughout all 6 books and this was only book 2.I was not convinced of the story being told in 4 voices. Gwen’s and Sam’s were good. I couldn’t get behind the way that Lanny and Connor spoke. Connor’s voice seemed to become more appropriate throughout, but Lanny’s just was not that of a 14yo.

I was so excited to continue this series and this book did not disappoint! To be clear, these are adult thrillers that go into a lot of detail and some topics may be triggering. I absolutely loved this book. Following Gwen's story with her serial killer husband was as thrilling as ever. With the second book we get multiple POVs from Gwen, her children and Sam which opened the story up so we could see what other characters where thinking and their reactions to important developments.These books are action packed and I was genuinely shouting, squealing and gasping throughout. There are twists that I didn't predict and moments that I completely couldn't believe were happening. The things Gwen went through and survived! I really felt for her. That woman is fire!I really recommend this series to thriller readers because wow is it amazing! I really can't find the words but it's bloody brilliant! Rachel Caine is a fabulous writer and I'm so sad to know we won't get anymore books from her. Her backlist is calling me.

The story starts immediately afterbthe events of the first book. In this book we live through the after events of the first book. Thrilling book from first to the last. The writer definitely knoqs how to catch the readers mind with her breathtaking imagination. I recommend this book a 10/10.

This book was a whole lotta messed up ....meaning it was well written. But the family/story / characters were crazy messed up people that is why it was FANTASTIC . The story was grabbing and it held on .It was a real page turner . Love it !!!

Der erste Teil war schon rasant, aber Killmann Creek nimmt noch einmal richtig Fahrt auf. Insbesondere die angeblichen Beweise lassen die Spannung ins Ermessliche steigen. Auch wenn ich nie an Gwen gezweifelt habe. Mir blutete nur das Herz, als ich bemerkte, dass sogar ihre Kinder bereit sind, sie fallen zu lassen, weil sie angeblich an den Morden der jungen Frauen beteiligt gewesen sein soll. Die Kinder stehen sehr im Vordergrund. Insbesondere Conner, der sich nur an einen liebenden Vater erinnern kann, den er nicht mit dem Bild des grausamen Serienmörders in Verbindung bringen kann. Nur zu bereitwillig gibt er die sorgsam geplante Tarnung auf, um endlich wieder ein Stück Normalität zu erleben. Sein Vater nutzt diese Liebe schamlos aus und ist sogar bereit ihn zu opfern. Seine große Schwester ist ihm auch keine große Hilfe, da sie gerade mit sich selbst und ihren Gefühlen für ihre beste Freundin hadert. Gefallen hat mir auch, dass die Autorin es schafft eine gewissen Verbundenheit, aber auch eine unterschwellige Spannung zwischen Gwen und Sam zu erschaffen. Sam traumatisiert vom Tod seiner Schwester durch Melvin, braucht Zeit um Vertrauen in Gwen zu fassen. Gerade die Videobeweise erschüttern dies sehr stark, aber letztendlich besinnt er sich und vertraut seinem Bauchgefühl mehr als seinen Augen. Es hat Spaß gemacht, wieder auf Gwen und ihre Kinder zu treffen. Hat sie schon im ersten Teil beide wie eine Löwin verteidigt, wird sie in diesem Teil zur Furie. Sie lässt nicht zu, dass das Böse was sich so allumfassend in ihren Alltag gedrängt hat, noch mehr Raum einnimmt und das bewundere ich so an dieser Figur. Auch wenn ein bisschen viel auf einmal geschieht und es manchmal unglaubwürdig wird, habe ich die Lektüre doch sehr genossen.Ein dritter Band ist schon in Aussicht gestellt und ich bin supergespannt wie es weitergeht im Leben von Gwen. Haben sie und Sam eine Zukunft und werden ihre Kinder endlich einen Platz haben, an dem sie so etwas wie Sicherheit verspüren?