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The Sun Down Motel
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *The Sun Down Motel* by Simone St. James is a gripping, atmospheric blend of supernatural mystery and true crime, praised for its dual tim...
So many joys in this novel! Dual timelines, supernatural events, broken characters, an unexpected resolution - perfectly woven together. I’ve discovered a new favorite author.
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The Sound Down Motel by Simone St. James
326 pages
What’s it about?
This ghost story/mystery flips back in time from the 1980's to present day. 20-year-old Viv Delaney shows up in Fell, New York and takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. A short time later Viv disappears with no trace. Her niece Carly comes back to Fell in 2017 to try to figure out what happened. Ghosts, murders, and a creepy hotel are the backdrop to this murder mystery.
What did it make me think about?
This was a plot driven mystery. No thinking required. Just turn the pages.
Should I read it?
This started out slow for me. Very implausible, lots of ghosts- but I kept at it and the plot picked up. If you suspend your disbelief and hold on this book turns into a satisfying murder mystery.
Quote-
"Night people were not the same as day people. The good people of Fell, whoever they were, were sound asleep at three a.m. Those people never saw the people Viv saw: the cheating couples having affairs, the truckers strung out on whatever they took to stay awake, the women with blackened eyes who checked out at 5 a.m. to futilely go home again."
If you liked this try-
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Kept by James Scott
The Sound Down Motel by Simone St. James
326 pages
What’s it about?
This ghost story/mystery flips back in time from the 1980's to present day. 20-year-old Viv Delaney shows up in Fell, New York and takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. A short time later Viv disappears with no trace. Her niece Carly comes back to Fell in 2017 to try to figure out what happened. Ghosts, murders, and a creepy hotel are the backdrop to this murder mystery.
What did it make me think about?
This was a plot driven mystery. No thinking required. Just turn the pages.
Should I read it?
This started out slow for me. Very implausible, lots of ghosts- but I kept at it and the plot picked up. If you suspend your disbelief and hold on this book turns into a satisfying murder mystery.
Quote-
"Night people were not the same as day people. The good people of Fell, whoever they were, were sound asleep at three a.m. Those people never saw the people Viv saw: the cheating couples having affairs, the truckers strung out on whatever they took to stay awake, the women with blackened eyes who checked out at 5 a.m. to futilely go home again."
If you liked this try-
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Kept by James Scott
LOVED THIS BOOK! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved the POV chnage chapter by chapter and the parallelism. Ending was a little predictable BUT there were a few surprised throughout and a few holes in the story, but absolutely loved it. Read it in two days.
Solid. Enjoyed this, of course it had two of my fave genres... serials and ghosts within. The Haunting of Sun Down Motel is going to haunt my dreams for quite a while. The story was eerie, and creepy, and kept you moving forward through two time frames unravelling simultaneously. A def fan was made here. Thanks Ms St James.
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