I got an offer to read Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon via the publisher. In all honesty. I was hesitant at first because I thought it was going to be more of the same of the type of books I have been reading.

I'm glad I took the chance because I thought it was really good!

Here's a synopsis from Goodreads:

On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history. Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak. Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in. Their parents, each with motivations of their own, only complicate the picture: they will do anything to protect their children, even at the others’ expense.

I don't like to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but I REALLY enjoyed this book. I find so many books these days don't keep me interested enough to want to get back to it quickly, but this one did and it moved just fast enough without tons of description. And, the best part? It got me at the end even though I was sure I knew the ending.

Good story, good plot, good topics and good ending. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity. This book will release approximately in January 2023. Pick up a copy. You won't be disappointed.

Locust Lane definitely starts out on the slow side. It took me awhile to get into the flow of the story, which is told from the perspective of five different parents affected by the murder of a young woman. Three are parents of children who are involved with the victim, one is the mother of the victim, and the other is a witness whose life has gone downhill after the drug overdose of his own daughter. The best parts of the story are watching the loyalties of the parents change as they learn more about that night and events leading up to it, as well as the fact that Amidon creates so many possibilities for who the murderer actually could be. He definitely plays up stereotypes. The kid from a foreign country is quickly pegged by police as the guilty party. There is also definitely classism too, with a kid from a rich, connected family whose parents have become well acquainted with covering up his bad behavior. After a great middle and a party involved I didn’t expect (but feel like I should have) the ending kind of slumped for me again. It wasn’t necessarily an unreasonable one, but at the same time it didn’t really feel satisfying and also left some loose ends for me. The multiple POVs allow the reader to gain knowledge piecemeal, as characters discover it - instead of knowing everything from one point of view, but this also means that stories don’t necessarily move sequentially. There are points where a perspective repeats events from a previous perspective, but that perspective has moved far enough past that event that readdressing it feels jarring instead of enlightening. This story was great at keeping the reader guessing, but still feels kind of unpolished. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I quite enjoyed this tale of suburban murder and the families involved. Well-written, I looked forward to picking up where I left off every night. Admittedly, it took me a while to figure out the cast of characters and their relationships. Recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history. Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak. Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in. Their parents, each with motivations of their own, only complicate the picture: they will do anything to protect their children, even at the others’ expense.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Everyone is a suspect at some point and I can honestly say I had no idea how this would end. The ending was the best part and it made me MAD. With this book, it’s best to go in with the mindset thinking it is more mystery than thriller, as it is definitely on the slower side and much more detailed. That being said, it’s a well done mystery that keeps you on your toes. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGallery and Celadon Books for this eARC!

A young woman, Eden Perry, was found dead in the wealthy town of Emerson, in a property on the lovely Locust Lane. She was housesitting and accompanied by several younger teenagers with no connection to her or the homeowner. What happened the night she died? Each of the teenagers spins a slightly different tale, more worried about getting in trouble than about the young woman being found dead.

The parents are just as bad, worrying more about protecting their family name than doing what’s morally right. At times, the author seems to confuse protecting the family name with protecting the family. The parents are not likable and profess to be “so concerned for the children” but they set horrible examples. They only care about how they will appear to others.
The teenage characters are pretty cliché, the popular alpha-male Jack who’s dating quiet Hannah who lets him treat her pretty badly. Their friend Chris also lives in Jack’s shadow, because apparently no teenager ever can just tell their friend to stop being an arrogant jerk and treat them as equals.

All I can say about the ending is that it is disappointing. I was left feeling like ‘Really, that’s it?’ I made it through the entire book and no one grew or developed morally or ethically? Are readers supposed to sympathize with the characters and agree that family comes before the law? I just don’t understand what the author was trying to accomplish. Wealthy people are just as terrible as we think they are? That’s pretty much all I was able to take away.

It isn't always necessary for a story to have real ghosts to be perfectly haunting, just in time for Halloween.

And that is how we begin here, with a haunting.

When Patrick Noone thinks he hears his dead daughter's voice in the middle of the night, he takes his drink and goes driving. That was his first mistake - his second was hitting a dog near a neighbor's house. The dog attacks him in retaliation and as he runs away, Patrick swears he sees a shadowy figure lurking in the bushes.

Imagine his surprise when he finds out that a young woman was killed in that very house that very night.

The young woman is - was - Eden, a 20 year-old staying with very rich distant family members while she and her working-class mother, living in a town some miles and many millions of dollars away, take a time-out. She was hanging out with three students from the local high school that night - rich and dark Jack, his sensitive and troubled girlfriend, Hannah, and their friend Christopher.

Christopher is the outsider, his father having come from Lebanon to open a restaurant; a quiet and shy boy with few friends. He's soon arrested and the wealthy and connected close ranks around their own when it is suggested that Jack, not Christopher, could have killed Eden.

This book is dark, it is heavy, it is sad and it will make you question our legal system and the meaning of guilt. The end of the book does not offer a conclusion, but perhaps the hope of a different ending; that the story is not yet over.

4.5 New England stars

Set in Massachusetts, this neighborhood tale was the perfect read for this time of year. It starts out with a bang and then throw in shadowy scenes, murder, families who close ranks for protection, and pitch-perfect pacing. Can you tell I liked it?

We know early on that there has been a murder in idyllic Emerson. It takes the whole book to get the truth and I was not right in my guesses! However, it all made sense in the end.

Eden Perry is the murdered young woman and my heart ached for her grieving mother. As we learn that there were teens partying with Eden that night, my thoughts pivoted back and forth as to who was guilty. Was it Christopher, he’s in love with Eden, did she reject him? Or was it Jack, from one of the families that is a pillar in the community? His girlfriend Hannah was also there. Did all three of them do something to Eden?

There is also an unreliable witness who saw someone that night in the woods. This cast of characters was complicated and created a realistic portrait of what can happen in towns like this. People turn on each other to protect themselves and their families.

And the ending! I loved it!

Locust Lane: A Novel by Stephen Amidon was just an okay read for me. The premise said that this book would be good for fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, but for me, it did not live up to those books.

The story starts with a young woman, Eden, who is found dead in her home in an upscale New England town. While it started off well, it just began to drag on and on, and I never connected with any of the characters. The story turned me off with the "rich" characters and their ridiculous decisions. I was underwhelmed by the writing, and the ending was abrupt.

#LocustLane #NetGalley @CeladonBooks

Rounded to 2.5 stars.

CONTENT WARNING: harm to an animal (unintentional), murder, gore, substance use, addiction, death, sexual assault, misogyny, self-harm

This is a new to me author, and I was so intrigued by the premise of this story. It had all of the elements that appeal to me—small town with secrets, teenagers getting in over their heads, affluent parents going out of their way to protect their children, and a mystery at the heart of everything. Yet somehow, I didn’t love this one as much as I had hoped.

The story starts off with a bang of a prologue. Literally. Patrick, who is out for a mildly intoxicated late-night drive, accidentally hits a dog running in the street. But when he stops to check on the dog, he gets into more than he bargained for. I was immediately hooked.

The story is told from the POV of quite a few of the MCs. It gave us insight into what was going on from various perspectives, while hiding the truth cleverly and dropping little hints here and there. We get to see what all the major players are like, yet somehow it’s hard to like the vast majority of them. Almost none of them are likable, and it seems like the more affluent the character, the worse they are. Every single one of them has secrets that they’re trying to hide, although some secrets are worse than others. The fact that there are so many POVs also makes it hard to feel close to or connect with the characters.

While the story starts off strong, the pace slows down. Each of the three teenagers denies everything immediately, then we get some more interactions, then one of them will admit to one thing, and repeat. It began to drag on, and I was ultimately just reading to find out what actually happened. But by the time I got to the end, it was completely unsatisfying, and I had figured out who was to blame well in advance of the big reveal.

This was a disappointing read, and the ending was a letdown. It felt entirely too open-ended for my liking. Even as it answered some major questions, it left one loose end untied. While it attempted to tackle major issues like race (one of the characters is French/Lebanese) and privilege, it never really fully did so, and felt like it was trying to do something it never actually accomplished.

Locust Lane is about an affluent town called Emerson in an upscale New England town.
Think rich, pretentious, gated-community vibes, and every single character was unlikable or had ulterior motives.

The main plot of the story is to determine who the killer was of 20 year old, Eden. She is found dead in her home after a get together. It's an especially tragic murder, because Eden was dealing with a lot of personal struggles before her death, but we don't really meet her as a character prior to her death.

It’s told through 5 different pov’s - all parents - however, most of them are also advocating for their teenage kids as well, so it makes for an extremely large cast of characters.
The pacing was quite slow, which I generally don’t mind if there is quality character building involved, but I did not feel this was the case. It just seemed like so much drama.
Annoying relationships, rich people making stupid decisions, bad reality show
I found it difficult to like any of the characters introduced. No real surprises in the big reveal. Ending was too ambiguous for my liking and weirdly unsatisfying. This was an odd novel where I found I cared less and less about the characters as the story went on, but I still wanted to know how it ended. Just a flat novel where neither the murder or the privilege that led to the murder are really investigated.
I received a copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
💕Slow burn thrillers
💕Thrillers that don’t spook you out
💕Morally ambiguous characters
💕Coming of age thrillers
💕Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Locust Lane, by Stephen Amidon, is a good thriller. The writing is thoughtful and detailed, and Amidon has created characters that are easy to sympathize with, despite their flaws.

The story begins with someone hitting a poor, innocent dog with their car which honestly I could have done without. I can read about murdered people but I draw the line at dog assault.

The story follows the investigation into the death of Eden Perry, a young woman who was found dead in the nicest part of Emerson, Massachusetts. Her death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night - each of whom is a suspect.

Hannah is a sweet girl with an unstable history; Jack is the popular kid with a mean streak; and Christopher is accused of being involved in drugs and violence, and ultimately murder.

The plot moves along at a slow pace, but in a way that allows readers to get to know the characters and their relationships with one another. The ending was somewhat anticlimactic for me; I was expecting something more dramatic. Overall, though, this is an excellent book that deserves attention.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon

Even though this story is listed as a mystery/thriller, I see more as a mystery/domestic drama. We know pretty quickly that someone is dead and we weren't there for what turns out to be a murder. We see the story unfold from the POVs of a lot of people.

Eden is the dead girl. She's had a rough several years but seems to have settled down while living at the place of an older couple. Jack and his friends, Hannah and Christopher, are in high school. Jack is a bully, Hannah and Christopher are bullied. Hannah hates herself so it's fitting she's spending time with Jack. Christopher is invisible unless people are making fun of him so being "friends" with Jack makes him somebody even if he's a bullied somebody.

Jack and Hannah's families are wealthy, Christopher is from another country, the son of a chef, on the outside in every way. So when Eden's death is investigated, the rich circle the wagons and Christopher is the bait to draw attention away from Jack and Hannah. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things.

There are a lot of adults involved in this mess and each one is either grieving a death of a teenager, trying to throw suspicion off a teenager, and/or trying to throw suspicion on a teenager. Money, excellent lawyers, and cops who have already convicted someone in their own heads, rule the day. The truth is that no one is guilt free, even if they didn't kill Eden. These are not good people, this is not a good place. The story is not a happy one and there will be no feeling of resolution or closure at the end. Life will go on for some and not for others.

Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the print and digital copies of this ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for this advanced reader copy. This is my first book from this author; it was a good read. It contains many characters and a storyline you must follow to the end. It shows how an incident can change a lot within many lives.

From first to last this is a wild rollercoaster of a suspense novel, twists and turns on every page and although I had an idea of “who did it”, the multiple endings were surprising. Take an affluent neighborhood, 4 teenagers and parents who will do anything to protect them, and you have Locust Lane, where a murder takes place one evening with multiple stories.

This story grabbed me right from the start as Patrick Noone hits a dog while out on Locust Lane at 3 in the morning. When he gets out to check on the animal's injuries, he is sure he spies something in the woods near the roadside. But is he seeing things, afterall, he's been filling his night of solitude with his favorite activity.... getting drunk! The following morning, it is reported that Eden, the 20 yr old daughter of Danielle, is found dead in a house on Locust Lane after partying with 3 teenaged friends that Patrick believes he saw the killer... but will anyone believe him? What happens next is a slow burn of anticipation, character back story, mystery, secrets and lies which culminates in a twisty surprise of an ending.
The swanky town of Emerson, where the rich live comfortable lives, isn't all it seems on the outside. There are some tragic and deeply troubled characters behind the posh front doors. As each character is introduced, their history is laid out, warts and all. It is the parents of the kids who partied that night at the Locust Lane house who tell the lengths they will go to protect their own child, even as one of them is accused and arrested for the murder of Eden.
Social media plays a big part in the guilt or innocence of the young man who is arrested while another young man's reputation is on the line when some damning information comes to light about another possible assault. A successful restauranteur's livelihood is compromised because of these accusations pointing fingers at their middle eastern ancestry. A marriage finds itself on shaky footing and bullying and misogyny lead the teens to making bad decisions. Drugs and alcohol abuse is another strong theme.
I guessed the killer about halfway through, but it is still a compelling outcome though I'm not sure if the real killer will see justice. I didn't get that from the ending and that the accused would be exonerated. If he doesn't, it just goes to show that the rich get away with anything if they have enough power and that an immigrant is always an easy scapegoat.

This is a slow burn, a desperate thriller as it rushes towards tragic ends. Three teenagers are there when a fourth is killed. All troubled teenagers. Their parents know each other and have various entangled relationships. This is also the story of the murdered girl's mother and the witness, who is struggling with his own grief and alcohollsm. Will there be justice or will the most vulnerable be punished. Moving and tragic with a resolution that stings

A suburban nightmare that highlights the lengths parents will go to in order to protect their children, their standing in the community, and their own secrets. Amidon's writing is striking and beautiful, but never bogs down the story. Equal parts heartbreaking, shocking, and terrifying, Locust Lane is a must-read story from a must-read author.

I expected to like this one a lot. Locust Lane is described in the book blurb as "a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town."

The story is set in motion when a young woman, Eden, is found dead in her home in an upscale New England town. It's an especially tragic murder, because it sounds like Eden was dealing with a lot of personal struggles before her death, but we don't really meet her as a character. Three kids from the rich part of town were partying with her... well, first they all insist they weren't, then that they were but there wasn't any drinking, then that they were drinking but a stranger must have come in after they left, etc. I wasn't really a fan of the pacing, it didn't feel suspenseful. I felt like I read 10,000 pages in which each of the three teenagers insisted it wasn't them and then gave one more detail about that night. There were endless scenes of characters refusing to tell other characters anything,  and it just took ages. I probably should have stopped here when I noticed I was picking up my phone to check Insta and my games while I was reading this book. 

I felt like there weren't enough surprises to make this feel like a thriller or a mystery. From the beginning, readers know that Jack is rich and cruel, his girlfriend Hannah will do anything he wants, and his best friend, Christopher, is bullied and teased by him. And then, the story unfolds kind of as you expect. There aren't any big shocks with the evidence, either.

There are some references to The Scarlet Letter in Locust Lane, and I thought that was appropriate, because I felt the same letdown in the conclusions of both. The Scarlet Letter is a lot of words for Hawthorne to reach the not terribly surprising conclusion that maybe people who call themselves good Christians aren't always moral. Locust Lane was the same -- a lot of words to draw the not terribly surpising conclusion that money means a different set of rules and consequences. It's not a new idea, and the book doesn't really explore further. I've enjoyed murder mysteries where privilege, money, and connections play into the solution (The It Girl and The Lake of Dead Languages come to mind), but this didn't work for me.

The ending of Locust Lane is weirdly unsatisfying. This was an odd novel where I found I cared less and less about the characters as the story went on, but I still wanted some resolution of the main mystery. There's a letter with the solution to the mystery of who killed Eden, and how it was done, but the novel ends before it's read.  Oddly flat novel where neither the murder or the privilege that led to the murder are really investigated.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher to review. All opinions and reactions on my book blog are my own, as always.

Locust Lane
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When Eden Perry is found dead in her distant cousins house in Emerson, an affluent suburb, the police want the case closed as quickly as possible. Three teenagers from powerful and influential families were at the house the night of her murder: Hannah, Jack and Christopher. With all the parents doing everything they can to protect their kids, they are bound to quit being friendly to each other. However will justice actually prevail?
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If you love psychological thrillers you will love this book. Each chapter is based on a day after that murder from the different parents of the kids at the house, Celia, Alice and Michel, points of view. Eden’s mother, Danielle, and Patrick’s, whose daughter died and saw something that night of the murder, points of view. Each persons point of view leaves you hanging until you read from the next person’s. It constantly has you guessing who the killer is and second guessing yourself. The whole book weaves all the twists and action together until the very end. The ending in my opinion is absolute perfection. This book will make you feel sorry for the kids and parents, hating the kids and parents, feeling sorry for some characters and thinking other got what they deserved

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I had high expectations for a nice dark book, but it was not what I’d hoped, unfortunately. The pacing was quite slow, which I generally don’t mind if there is character building involved, but I did not feel this was the case. It just seemed like so much drama.

Annoying relationships, rich people making stupid decisions, bad reality show.

I found it difficult to like any of the POV characters introduced. No real surprises in the big reveal.

Ending was too ambiguous for my liking.

The writing was good and I did actually finish it so it was interesting enough for 3* rating.