Chevy Stevens

A Novel

Dark Roads

Denaiir

4.5 stars
loved the perspectives and Chevy Stevens' writing is always a treat
4.5 stars because I didn't really understand some of the choices the characters made but overall a great read
The audiobook version is very good, even though Beth's narrato sounded quite older than the character

Alyson Schoenwolf 

This was the second Chevy Steven's book I read. I liked the book even though I felt it was kind of slow in some parts and could have got to the point. But other then that I liked the characters and it was a good story kind of relates to what is going on in the world.

kendall p

going into this book, i was expecting something completely different. 
i was expecting some dark, and thrilling but i really didn't get that. 
we are given 3 parts of this book - the first part is about the story of hailey, the second part is how beth, ambers sister comes to town, and the third book just wraps everything up. 
nothing happens in the first and second part - like the first part is just an overview that i felt like would have been better if it was told in dual p.o.v's instead of just giving us that in the beginning. 
i feel like the shock factor would have been way better if it was told in dual p.o.v and we didn't know what happened till hailey till the end. 
nothing happens in part two, literally nothing - we watch beth live her life and make friends with jonny but there's nothing thrilling or really even mysterious. with it being such a small town, i thought we beth would have spoken to some people in the town but she only speaks to the same 3 people the whole book. 
the only "thrilling" portion was in the last 80-85%. it felt really weird, and out of nowhere -- like it didn't make any sense really, and the whole picture thing still didn't creep me out like it was suppose to. it just felt weird. like it just kinda felt like the big twist was just added at the last minute. 
the reason i gave this book 3 stars instead of two was because the beginning and end narration really saved this book for me. that was really the only heartfelt, and creepy portion of this book.

Tiana Coates

Chevy Stephens did a fantastic job with this story. The book takes you to a small (made-up) town in Northern BC and connects two very different girls through the death of someone who meant a lot to both of them, in different ways. It begins with Hailey’s story. A girl who has lost her father and now lives with her Aunt and her Aunts husband, who also happens to a police officer in a town that seems to be housing a serial killer. 

Chevy says in the acknowledgments at the end, that she wanted to write a story about the Highway of Tears, but instead of leaving loose ends, have an ending that so many people are so desperate for. Even though the town in the book is made up, the Highway of Tears is very, very real. And it is very likely that those responsible some of the murders, are still out there today. Dark Roads gives the reader closure. 

This psychological thriller is fantastic. It was unpredictable and fast-paced. I cannot recommend this book enough. 

Amy Medeiros

Thrilling mystery

This was a very thrilling mystery that was based on events on a famous highway where women were murdered. I love that the story held my attention through the entire book and that I didn’t realize the killer right away. I think my favorite part of this story was the two badass female main characters and their dog Wolf.

Kathy

Chevy Stevens has done it again.. I Love her books. 
My emotions are all over the place with this book. It is dark, depressing, disturbing story narrated by two unforgettable, traumatized, struggling young girls. 

NEVER TRUST ANYONE!!!!

Cold Creek is a small community. The highway has a history of young women going missing that stretches back for years.
Hailey McBride, recently orphaned and gone to live with her aunt and policeman husband. The husband, known as the Ice Man by the local youths, is a controlling bully. Stephens does a great job of getting the cloying nature of the Ice Man’s control exactly right. The book literally made my skin crawl in spots. Given what she’s dealing with, she runs away. Thankfully, 

The book shifts to Beth’s point of view. Beth is the older sister of one of the murdered women and comes to investigate. She takes a job waitressing at the same diner as her sister. Her inquiries put her at risk, too.
Of course, my favorite character was Wolf. Although Johnny was pretty special, too. Everyone is well developed.
The book moved at a fast pace and kept me engaged throughout.to keep me on my toes. 

I hope you like as much as I have 
Enjoy

Jolie

I am a big fan of psychological thrillers. Now, I love books, period, but reading psychological thrillers give me a rush. I like the feeling that I get when reading them. I like the butterflies in my stomach, the anxiety built up during the book, and the feeling at the end of the book.

Dark Roads is the story of two girls connected by death. Hailey and Beth. After a shocking discovery that makes her home life unbearable, Hailey disappears into the wilderness surrounding the small town of Cold Creek. A year later, Beth shows up, hoping to find peace in the town where her sister last lived. But there is a greater force at stake. Can Beth and Hailey expose what has been going on in Cold Creek? Or will the town, and the highway, live up to its reputation?

The plotline for Dark Roads was fast-paced. The flow of the book was choppy, but I think the author wanted it that way. There was a slight lag in the middle of the book before Beth discovered Hailey and a tiny little at the end. The author addressed the main storylines/plotlines, but she did not resolve the main one about the killings on the highway. Again, I do believe that the author wanted it that way.

Hailey was the first main character introduced in Dark Roads. When the book starts, her father had died in a car crash, and she was living with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Hailey isn’t comfortable there. She is more at home with her best friend Jonny, racing dirtbikes and stealing parts to keep the bikes running. She is not allowed to ride her bike or hitchhike home because of a serial killer operating on the highway of Cold Creek. Things come to a head that summer when her uncle, Vaughn, starts acting suspiciously, and Hailey does a little investigating. What Hailey finds out during her investigation sends her deep into the forest for a year. Honestly, I would have done the same thing. She was in the crosshairs of a serial killer, and the only way to get away was to disappear.

Beth had come to Cold Creek to try and make peace with her sister’s death. She was a freaking mess, popping pills and drinking vodka while doing her investigation into Amber’s death. I was sure, during points in the book, that she was going to die. I also questioned her getting involved with Jonny. I questioned almost everything she did in this book. But, she did solve her sister’s death, and she brought down someone with that (and I wasn’t surprised at who it was).

When Hailey and Beth came together, the book did pick up the pace. The switching between their viewpoints was almost frantic. I loved that Hailey was virtually a ghost and that she was informing Thompson (the other cop) about what was going on. Her chemistry with Beth was terrific too. She had an instant rapport with her that I loved.

The author did a fantastic job writing the mystery angle of Dark Roads. I had zero clues about who the killer was. I thought it was someone else until that scene with Beth in her car. The reveal took me by surprise. There was another twist to that storyline that I saw coming, but it still surprised me.

The author did a fantastic job writing the mystery angle of Dark Roads. I had zero clues about who the killer was. I thought it was someone else until that scene with Beth in her car. The reveal of who it took me by surprise. There was another twist to that storyline that I saw coming, but it still surprised me.

I want to mention the author’s note at the end of the book. There was an explanation about the actual criminal case that the Cold Creek Highway was based off. She also addressed that indigenous women were more likely to be killed, and the murders were not given priority. That explanation made sense, and I understood why she chose not to have the other murders in the book solved.

Dark Roads was a fast-paced psychological thriller. The storyline was well written, and the characters were compelling.

I would recommend Dark Roads to anyone over the age of 21. There is violence and language. There are several graphic scenes of a woman being tortured and beaten. There are a couple of explicit scenes of police brutality. There are drugs and alcohol. There are scenes of a person taking pictures of women/underage girls without their knowledge.

Dark Roads A Novel

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