The Winter People: A Suspense Thriller
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The New York Times bestselling author of The Invited will shock you with a simmering psychological thriller about ghostly secrets, dark choices, and the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters. • "One of the year's most chilling novels." —The Miami Herald
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.
Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.
Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
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Community Reviews
I saw this as a giveaway on Goodreads and thought it sounded like a great psychological thriller. I somehow missed the paranormal part of it and probably would not have read it if I had known. The story definitely draws you in and it's a fast read. There are some good twists in the plot.
This is the third book by McMahon I’ve read and so far she never disappoints. A fast paced thriller with multiple timelines and multiple strong female leads all trying to solve the same mystery. I love this author’s skill in weaving supernatural with thriller and it’s always hard to put her books down. If you’re looking for a spooky winter thriller with some mystery elements I’d recommend this one!
This book is really good about taking us between two timelines. It tells the story of two different families all trying to understand something that is really beyond understanding.
Spoilers sorta ahead!
The book ramped up the pace and action rather nicely.... and then didn't quite stick the landing. The "well we've inherited a monster" moral isn't terribly satisfying and neither really was all the running around in the cave system where the only encounter with the monster was off screen. Ultimately great premise, in spite of being done before, but a flat ending.
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