OMG!! Every time I read a Rachel Caine book, I think there is no way she can outdo it, but she sure has proven me wrong, time & time again!! The Gwen Proctor series is one of my favorites & the only one I am sure to follow. I love love love Rachel Caine's books!

They’re hunting a killer so silent, so invisible, that his unspeakable crimes are the only proof he exists.

A car submerged in a remote pond. The bodies of two girls strapped into their seats. The mystery of their mother, vanished without a trace, leads Gwen Proctor and Kezia Claremont into dangerous territory.

On the surface, Gwen’s life is good—two children approaching adulthood, a committed partner, and a harrowing past dead and gone. But that past is attracting the attention of someone invisible…and unstoppable. Trouble’s just beginning. So is the body count in this backwoods Tennessee town.

As threats mount and Gwen’s hunted by an enemy who pulls all the strings, Kezia has her back. But working to solve these vicious and unreasonable crimes will expose them both to a killer they can’t for the life of them see coming.

I loved this story and the last book in the Stillhouse Lake series. It starts out so haunting, with a woman driving her two children in the woods, then the police finding the car with two dead girls in the back. Why was the woman doing this? And how does it relate back to Gwen?

I loved the way it came from three points of view - Kezia, Sam and Gwen. Kezia is pregnant and missing Javier, and is trying to figure out what happened to those two kids. Sam is worried about Gwen, and how his actions in the past with that hate group is now coming back to bite all of them. And Gwen is still worried about her kids, but knows they know how to take care of themselves. And someone is out to get them again.

Wonderful ending to a great series.

Heartbreak Bay starts off strong, with a horrific crime against children. Gwen and Kezia work together to solve this crime, but the killer is hard to find.

While I did predict who the killer was it was still very good and a good conclusion to the series. Which I assume is the ending due to the passing of the author

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend these books to thriller lovers. The twists are great and I love the character development. Watching Lanny and Connor grow through the series, as well as the relationship between Gwen and Sam, was awesome and I hope somehow to see these characters again.

4.5 stars - Suspenseful, heartfelt and badass

"Hate has a life of it's own"

This was a great final edition to the Stillhouse Lake series. Gwen Proctor, (aka Gina Royal, ex-wife to the late serial killer Melvin Royal), has gone through trial and tribulation to get her family to safety and a sense of stability. A task which is seemingly impossible, as the hatred of Melvin's victims families and the public eye never ceases to burn with a vengeance, convinced that despite her innocence, that she was involved in the murders. Now the new threat working behind the scenes is more than just an internet troll, but a legitimate danger to Gwen's loved ones.

As the latest crime scene unfolds, Gwen is inextricably woven into the madness that follows, hunted by the latest enemy who holds wits, power and stealthy prowess. Gwen enlists the help of her friend, Detective Kezia Claremont, who is arguably just as badass as Gwen. This time she also has the help of her capable husband, Sam Cade, but she also learns to entrust her teenage children to fight for survival together. This is a powerhouse family that is hard to break.

I love the way Caine writes. Her writing is bold, visceral, emotive and to the point. Which makes for a great action thriller with a badass protagonist. I always feel action thrillers lack heart, but the Stillhouse Lake series is full of heart, full of dangers, full of twists, full of interpersonal issues that create tug-of-wars on trust, but create realistic and flawed characters worthy of exploration. The enemies are also very dynamic and believable. So the series is both parts psychological and action.

This book improves on the previous one (#4) in my opinion. It has depth, danger and originality that rival the predecessor. It takes a while for the story to pick up, feeling a bit slow in the middle, with a chronic but suspenseful build. But it ends in a very riveting way. There's always a touch of really messed up, serial killer-esque material in these books, and I love that its incorporated in balanced amounts. Definitely not for the faint of heart. The stakes are high, the struggle for survival is nail bitingly fierce. Gwen operates on an insane badass level, and I can't recommend this series enough if you want some strong protagonists that work collaboratively. I say protagonists because the story is told through multiple POVS: Gwen, Sam and Kezia. Something that Caine does well, is create a team of empowered people that trust and empower each other. As well as envision an atmosphere that is so ingrained in my memories

I will surely miss the legacy of the Stillhouse Lake series, but forever hold it in high regard and recommend it to all my friends! My deepest condolences to Rachel Caine's family. She was a brilliant writer!

Sidenote - As Rachel Caine unfortunately passed away before the release of this book, I am as the title suggests, a little heartbroken. The series was such a thrill and I'm really grateful I stumbled across it. The author's note at the end of the book made me tear up a little, as she didn't know whether she would survive through the cancer. The hope, struggle and battle for survival that she imbues her characters, seems to come from a genuine personal place of the author.

It seems evident that this will be the last in the Stillhouse Lake series, due to the tragic passing of Rachel Caine in November 2020. And it’s a fitting place to end it, with Gwen Proctor going in many ways back to the beginning, fighting back against the online trolls determined to destroy her and her kids because of their relationship with dead serial killer Melvin Royal. Finally, it’s coming to light that one person is driving much of the harassment, one person with apparently limitless resources and an equally limitless capacity for rage.

Police officer Kezia, who has been slowly getting more page time as a character as the series progresses, is a solid secondary protagonist here. Devastated when she is called to the scene of a terrible crime (trigger warnings for child murder) Kezia calls in Gwen to help her investigate, not confident of the abilities of the police or federal authorities to solve the crime. Neither of them have any clue that it’s all part of an elaborate trap designed specifically to snare Gwen, masterminded by a man with no conscience and a sick game he’s fully intent on playing out to the end.

If you’re just seeing this as a new release and you’re tempted to pick it up without having read the rest of the series, I don’t recommend it. Go back to Stillhouse Lake and read them all. Gwen’s character arc across the entire series is absolutely gripping, and I really don’t think you get the full picture without following from the beginning. There’s enough clues here for you not to be completely lost if you do start here, but… trust me, and go back to the beginning. You won’t regret it.

This is a series I’ve binged the whole of in a week. It’s so good I just couldn’t set it aside, didn’t want to know about anything else while I was buried in it. I know I’ll come back to read it again and again, forever regretting that I won’t know any more of Gwen’s story, although it does end logically in a place which gives her so many opportunities to move forward.

Thank you so much to Rachel Caine for giving us this wonderful series. It’s dark and gritty and powerful and it’ll make you think next time you’re tempted to be a keyboard warrior - a temptation which comes to all of us at times. It’s a rare series where I give every single book five stars, but this is one of them. It’s truly been a pleasure.

This book was about two friends attempting to solve a murder. One friend was a former wife of a serial killer while the other is a detective. The story intertwines between their stories of the detective doing her job and her friend’s terrible past. I felt like we were given breadcrumbs of this terrible past but I found myself wondering what exactly happened with the feeling that I would never know. It wasn't until after I read the book that I realized this was part of a series. If I had known that and read the prior books I may have liked it more.

I was excited to read this story by the good reviews I saw but I found this story to be very slow. I did not feel that it picked up until about 70% into it. I think that it the story line had a hint of mystery but it did not leave me wanting more. It was not until half way through that I was into the story but then shortly after I was not as invested. I think this has the potential to be a good story for some but for me, it was not the ‘can’t put it down’ book I was looking for.

Wow! What to even say? Buy it now!
Gwen and her family have moved yet again - only to be harassed and hunted.
Kezia is called to a horrible crime scene- infant twins drowned, the mother no where to be found. She calls Gwen for help.
Gwen looks into the mother - a trail of fake identities, dead elderly.
This case just gets more complicated, more questions.
This is the best book of the series - well other than the first two.
I did the audio version- loved it. This book is told by Sam, Gwen and Kezia. Each had a different narrator- it was brilliant.
Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and R. Caine for providing me with a free copy of this book for my honest feedback. I actually already had this book pre-ordered on Audible and was happy to have both media to review.

My husband only reads a series. He refuses to read a standalone book and it has never made sense to me. I am not a reader of series, I actually avoid them and turn my nose up at them. I like something to finish, not end on a cliffhanger and not have to wait until the next installment. However, my opinion of this has changed since reading this series. I actually didn't believe that Stillhouse Lake was part of a series and for once I was very glad, as I cannot leave this story alone.

The Stillhouse Lake series has a cozy, gloomy atmosphere which is present book to book. Of course the protagonist, Gwen keeps arriving at sinisterly named locations. Once again, I was eager to become lost in Gwen's world of devotion to her family, friends and the crimes which she works on. I am not usually one to enjoy character-driven texts but I feel very close to Gwen, Atlanta, Cody, and Sam. I have been reading reviews on Goodreads which state that there will no longer be any books in this series and I am heartbroken. Maybe this is why this book has been titled Heartbreak Bay because it is the reader that leaves heartbroken and craving the stories of the Proctor/Cade family.

I recommend that you spend time reading and reflecting on this series.

When I started reading this series last September, I had no clue that I would love it so much! This was one of the first ARCs I requested from NetGalley, not realizing it was book 5 in a series I had never read. It was well worth it!

Heartbreak Bay starts off strong, with a horrific crime against children. Gwen and Kezia work together to solve this crime, but the perpetrator is almost invisible and has access to means of which will put them in incredible danger.

While I did predict who the “bad guy” was, I didn’t guess the motive and it was a great twist. I also love the Saw references..I was always obsessed with that horror series.

Overall, I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m sad that this is probably the end of this series, as Rachel sadly passed away last year. I highly recommend these books to thriller lovers. The twists are great and I love the character development. Watching Lanny and Connor grow through the series, as well as the relationship between Gwen and Sam, was awesome and I hope somehow to see these characters again.

Thank you to @netgalley, @rachelcainewriter and Thomas and Mercer for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Heartbreak Bay. This was very hard to put down. Fast paced edge of the seat nail biter. I do wish I read the other books first. Gwen is a strong woman on the hunt for a missing mother of twon girls who drown in a car. The ending of this book was bittersweet knowing that Rachael Caine past away and there won’t be anymore to Gwen and Sam’s story but it’s not a disappointing ending

I’m heartbroken that this is the last book. The series is phenomenal. The characters have had such growth; I was really looking forward to the rest of the series.

I loved this book so much! It was the first book I have read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters and their story stick with you long after you finish the book.

Finding the words for this review are difficult. Not because the book wasn’t fantastic, but because the wonderful Rachel Caine is no longer with us. I knew that going in. I knew from page 1, that I’d reach the end of the story. I knew I’d reach those final pages and acknowledgements. What I didn’t know, was just how emotional I’d get reading that author’s note. The world Rachel wrote in these books was so captivating that it kept me coming back for more time and time again, but this time it’s really the end.

For the final book this one really was fitting, it was beautiful and lovely and showed that love is enough. The mystery that Gwen and Kezia investigate in this book, will leave you guessing. I enjoyed piecing together the clues as they did and figuring out whodunnit along the way. Honestly, I couldn’t have imagined a better way for this set of characters to go out (even if I never wanted their stories to end).

Seriously, read this series. It is so worth it.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

Heartbreak Bay is the Fifth installment in author Rachel Caine's Stillhouse Lake series. The story is once again told in multiple narratives: Private Investigator Gwen Proctor, her significant other and flight instructor Sam Cade, and Detective Kezia Claremont. This story begins with a heartbreaking scene. After a car is found submerged in Stillhouse Lake, Detective Claremont gets the call. For Kezia, this is especially heartbreaking when she learns that twin baby girls are still strapped into their car seats and their mother is nowhere to be found.

The scene would be harrowing and emotional experience for anyone to deal with let alone a trained professional. But Kez just found out that she's pregnant and hasn't had time to tell Javier yet since he's off with the Marine Corp on training maneuvers. As the car is dragged out of the lake, Kezia puts a name to the person she needs to find immediately. Kezia realizes right away that something is horribly wrong. There’s nothing normal about two drowned innocent children. After learning the name of the mother of the twins, the question now becomes whether or not she was abducted and needs saving, or is she perhaps criminally responsible for the girls’ deaths?

With help from Gwen, who has moved her family to Knoxville to be closer to her job, Kezia searches for the mother of the babies only to be lead to a missing person search where yet another body is found. Are both cases connected, or a false lead to throw Kezia off the trail? For Gwen, as a mother on a 17-year-old (Lanny) and a 15-year-old (Connor) who has been through literal hell over the course of this series, she can't help feeling emotionally distraught. Her children are slowly becoming adults, especially Atlanta who seems ready to go out on her own and out of her mother’s control. The kids are constantly targeted by trolls and vindictive people who want to hurt them because of who their father was.

For a long time now, Gwen has lived in a state of hypervigilance and for obvious reasons. She’s tried to track down the trolls who have been trying to make her life miserable and has done a good job overall. She didn’t realize what a real monster Melvin was and how many people thought he was innocent and that she was the guilty one until she starts getting unwanted letters, kids writing disgusting stuff on her home, kids making her own children’s lives miserable, and even the local police not trusting Gwen fully. The author then raises the stakes when Gwen is once again targeted by a menace to society who believes she is just as guilty as her former serial killer husband and he intends to make sure she pays for what he claims she did.

Even though Gwen has been arrested several times now, she's never formally been charged with murdering anyone. While Gwen is trying to protect her family from another menace, she discovers that her ex, Melvin, has many different acolytes just waiting to pick up his call for action and make Gwen's life unbearable. Forget the fact that her children are innocent in all of this. This time out, Gwen and Kezia must face almost certain death alone to end the vicious campaign from a man who has nothing to lose and everything to gain if he is the one to finally bring an end to Gwen being an innocent.

Sam is not only training pilots but is now the adoptive father of Lanny and Connor. Sam isn’t exactly unscathed by the events of Gwen’s past. When a mysterious caller asks him how he can live with a serial killer’s wife, Sam has choices to make. He can stand with Gwen or dig deeper into the caller’s agenda and reason for singling him out or walk away forever. Unless we’ve forgotten, Sam was once one of the worst aggressors against Gwen, until he met her and the kids and realized nothing is what it seems, and now it seems as though their relationship is even stronger than before.

Heartbreak Bay is a bittersweet ending to the Stillhouse Lake series as the author passed away back in November of 2020. She was fighting cancer, and her assistant and publisher knew that if she lived, the series would live as well. Unfortunately, she didn’t. I have no knowledge whether or not the author was able to finish writing other stories before her death. All I know is that we, as fans and readers, should be prepared that this is her final piece de resistance. In many ways, the title of this book is perfect. It is not only the culmination of where the story ends, but where the story takes Gwen to fight her final battle.

I should start by saying I love the Stillhouse Lake series. Gwen/Gina is such a complex, flawed, yet likable protagonist. She is the main reason I keep coming back to these books. While I felt like the third and fourth books in the series took a dip, Heartbreak Bay revs the tension and suspense much like Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek. It was very reminiscent of the very first book and I could not stop reading. The book is very fast paced and I was hooked from the beginning. The ominous start sets the stage for a truly twisted tale. While I’m normally not a fan of white writers writing Black characters, I do love that Kezia was centered, although I still feel like I don’t know the character as well as I’d like. Like all books in the Stillhouse series, Heartbreak Bay calls for you to suspend belief at some point and just go with the story. Some things that happened just aren’t plausible in the real world, HOWEVER they make for a good story. I definitely recommend you read this book.

This was my first read by Rachel Caine and I really enjoyed it although it wasn't the first in the series. I would like to go back and read the others.

I just have to say that I love this series and I am so sad we won’t get anymore. I have been reading Rachel Caine’s books for years but this thriller series was my favorite. Im so sad that she passed away and we won’t get any more of her books. Heartbreak Bay was the fifth in the series that follows the ex-wife of a serial killer and what she and her family goes through because of this. In this one we are following Gwen and her bff who is a local cop, as they get lured into a trap that might not end well. I really love the friends that Gwen has gathered around her who know her original identity and do not hold her ex-husbands deeds against her. If you love tough females who go above and beyond then this series might be for you. I really can’t say enough about this series, if you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it!

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the chance to read Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine. I was so excited to receive this advanced copy because the Stillhouse Lake series is a favourite of mine, and Rachel Caine was a new favourite author. I have two of her other series in my TBR list. I wondered whether this would be the end of the series, but had no idea that before I had a chance to start the book, the author would pass away. It made it difficult to pick the book up and read, but I finally did it and once again was drawn in to the life of Gwen. While I am sure each book could be read alone., I recommend reading each book in order starting at the beginning.
Gwen has finally put her nightmare past behind her, and is enjoying her home life, and new job as a PI. When her friend Kezia, a police detective, asks Gwen for help to solve the murder of two little girls, who were found in a car submerged in a remote pond. This book is fast paced and the suspence stay with you tell the end. Thank you for taking me for a ride Rachel Caine. RIP.

Receiving this ARC was bittersweet. I was excited to learn that the fifth and final book in the great Stillhouse Lake series had been written. But then, I was equally sad to learn writer Rachel Caine had passed away due to cancer. Stillhouse Lake is a series I just discovered this past year, and this book is a fitting end to the series. (This ARC could probably be enjoyed as a standalone, but much better to start with the fantastic first book in the series, Stillhouse Lake, and go in order from there.)

All of your well-loved characters are back — first and foremost, Gwen, who in another life was married to a vicious serial killer. Gwen had no clue what her husband Melvin had been doing, but this did not stop the public from turning against her, holding her equally responsible for his crimes. The series follows Gwen as she is taunted, pursued and tortured by her imprisoned husband and his many friends and acolytes, as well as members of the public who believe she was somehow involved in the killings. This n this book, happily, also see the return of Sam, her partner who shares a connection to her husband, and her best friend Kezia, a detective she met along the way..

As always with this series, just when you think Gwen has finally escaped her terror, new horrors await her. Gwen is now in Knoxville. At the same time, Kezia is investigating a horrific crime against two children that draws Gwen back to Stillhouse Lake. The case is personal for Kezia and, ultimately, also for Gwen.

I really recommend this action-packed series with a kickass heroine who can definitely take care of herself. As a side note, if you need to catch up on the other books before reading this one, the audiobooks are great too, particularly Stillhouse Lake.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer for the ARC. Rachel Caine’s powerful voice will be missed.