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Author Chevy Stevens is a master of dark and haunting thrillers—stories about strong but troubled women facing unsettling truths. Her latest, Dark Roads, is no different, following two different young women as they’re tracked by a killer who preys on women outside a small Canadian town.
The story travels to the Cold Creek Highway in British Columbia, where young women have been going missing for decades. Hailey McBride lives in the town of Cold Creek, so she’s learned to be on her guard at all times. Her father taught her how to survive in the wilderness, and she knows how to protect herself. So when her father dies in a car accident and she’s left to live with her aunt and her aunt’s crooked cop husband, Vaughn, she realizes that she’s not safe, so she makes a plan to get away.
While Hailey’s actions set up the novel, though, this isn’t just Hailey’s story. It’s also the story of Beth, whose world came crumbling down around her when her younger sister became one of the victims. These two characters couldn’t be much more different. Hailey is a small-town teen with a talent for surviving. When she realizes that something around her is very wrong, she refuses to sit quietly and let it happen. Beth once had everything going for her—a loving family, a nice apartment in the city, a future as a lawyer—but she arrives in Cold Creek having lost almost everything, unsure of how to cope. Instead of giving up, though, she decides to find answers. Both choose to do something about the crimes committed outside this town, but they handle it in their own way.
Unlike some novels that focus on strong female characters and shady male villains, though, Dark Roads isn’t an us-against-them kind of story. There are good and bad alike—but in a town like Cold Creek, where women continue to go missing, it’s not always easy to determine which is which. There are male characters, however, who truly care—who listen and act on others’ concerns, even if the others happen to be young and female and different. And as the women battle the elements, the killer, and their own demons, it’s refreshing to see a healthy balance.
These two very different characters help set up a harrowing thriller. It’s dramatic and suspenseful and darkly haunting. It may leave a few questions unanswered in the end, but it’s definitely a captivating read.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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