Cold Creek Highway is hazardous...to women. For decades a killer has stalked women who find themselves alone on this road. Locals constantly warn young girls but the killing continues. One local girl that ignores these warnings is a young woman named Hailey McBride. Hailey's father dies suddenly, leaving her an orphan. She is underage and has to move in with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. She loves her aunt and cousin but her uncle gives her the creeps. He is strict, harsh, and bossy, none of the things a grieving girl needs. He has an office in a shed in the backyard that is strictly off-limits. Hailey's life is miserable.

Hailey begins to suspect her uncle is the killer. Why does he spend so much time in his home office? She breaks in to her uncle's office and discovers some disturbing files on his computer. Hailey is careful but her uncle is a cop. He knows she has accessed his office and Hailey begins to fear for her life. With the help of her best friend, Hailey disappears. Another murder happens near the highway. Could Hailey a victim of the killer too?

Dark Roads is a fast-paced thriller. Hailey is a young woman going through so much change and it is fascinating to see how she matures through the story. She crosses paths with the murderer and learns far more than expected. The characters are well developed and the ending of the book is a surprise. This is one thriller that you will love - what an ending!

A wonderfully twisty story of darkness and evil. Girls keep going missing off of a local highway. One girl, with a cop for a step-dad, discovers darkness within him and makes an escape. Feom there, the story pucks up to a breathtaking unexpected finish.

This was my first Chevy Stevens read. I have to say, thrillers and mysteries are a hard sell for me. I’m picky and cynical and tend to scoff at the not-so-realistic parts (which, let’s be honest, it can be hard to relate to a book about a serial killer who murders women along a stretch of deserted highway... because thankfully I’ve never experienced it). I really enjoyed the descriptive nature of Stevens’ writing - I could easily see each scene playing out in my head. I appreciated the ease with which she wrote about the relationship between Hailey and Amber - it didn’t feel cliched at all. And, my goodness, I loved the dog! I WANT the dog. I really felt some of the characters were well developed and nuanced, while others just fell flat for me (like Vaughn, ugh. I still don’t get why he was so awful). I struggled with the reveal because I sort of saw it coming and was craving a better explanation. I was also hoping for more suspense throughout. It was intriguing, but not particularly heart-pounding for me. Overall, a solid 2.5-3 star read for me.

Note: there are parts of this book that may be disturbing and/or triggering to some.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Chevy Stevens gets consistently better with every book. For decades women have been disappearing from a local highway.. Hitchhikers vanish without a trace, even omen whose cars mysteriously break down are no longer heard from again. Enter Hailey, who decides to run away from an unbearable home situation. She decides to disappear, hoping everyone will think she was a victim as well.
I can't praise this book enough. Terrific writing, not the most liked characters but to be honest that's how I like it. It started off strong from page 1, hit bit of a lull in the middle, then took off again. I can't wait to start recommending this book!

Whoa! This is another great read by Chevy Stevens. It is intense and full of twists and turns. The ending makes you long for the sequel. You won't guess the ending!

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens is as riveting and unpredictable as the Canadian wilderness it's set in. The book centers around fictional town, Cold Creek, haunted by a suspected serial killer who's preyed on young women over the years. Hailey is a native of Cold Creek who's desperate to escape into the surrounding wilderness that she knows so well. Beth is a sister of one of the killer's victims who comes to Cold Creek hoping to find some peace. Stevens deftly moves between Hailey and Beth as narrators until the heart-stopping final third of the book brings them into contact with each other...and into the path of the killer. This was a thriller that I truly couldn't put down. The characters, especially Hailey and Beth, were compelling and there were twists that I did not see coming at all. The landscape of Cold Creek served as the third main character and Stevens descriptions of it propelled and complemented the plot well. If you're a fan of mysteries and thrillers, definitely pick this one up.

This is my first Chevy Stevens book, and I am beyond impressed with the story she delivered! It's so hard to compare thrillers against each other because there's all kinds of victims, psychopaths, and killers, But here's what I loved about Chevy's brand of thriller:
- The writing itself was beautiful. Sometimes I feel like writing goes to the wayside in thrillers, as authors are just trying to deliver suspense and surprise, but Chevy does both.
- The setting alone kept me drawn to the story. Her description of the woods and one character's journey of survival in them was one of my favorite parts.
- You actually care about the characters. Her character development was a slow burn in the best way. You keep discovering things about each one that makes you root for them even harder. I can't count how many times I've hated all the characters in a thriller. Not this one!
- I was actually surprised by a twist. That doesn't always happen! There were some parts that I guessed, or half guessed. But while at first I was skeptical that that was ALL the story was going to be, it definitely wasn't.
- The story was inspired by the Highway of Tears, where many indigenous girls and women have gone missing. I like that element of humanity behind that plot.
I will definitely be recommending this to friends who need a good, twisty, character-based thriller to read!

Chevy Stevens is always a gold mine of books! This one was no exception. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a dark and scary read about a small town and its secrets.

Definitely not my favorite by Chevy Stevens, but it picked up about midway through. I still thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved Jonny. Beth standing up to Hailey over Jonny was one of the more redeeming qualities that brought out the usual emotions I get from Stevens.

Dark Roads is the first book by Chevy Stevens I’ve read and it’s a doozy. An engrossing psychological suspense novel, it’s four main characters – all in their twenties – have stories which intertwine in a thoroughly realistic and absorbing way.
Cold Creek Highway in the Pacific Northwest is infamous for the series of women hitchhikers who have gone missing in the area. Hailey, whose father has died, is living with her aunt and her policeman husband and hanging around with her childhood buddy Jonny, while striking up a romance with Amber, a waitress at the local diner. When her home life becomes unbearable, she retreats into the deep woods, in almost survivalist mode, and everyone believes she another one of the victims of the area killer. When Amber comes looking for Hailey, she’s killed so midway through the book, we are introduced to Amber’s sister Beth, who moves to town to investigate her sister’s death and quickly becomes romantically involved with Jonny. The three young adults join forces to catch the culprit and the suspenseful ending will keep you guessing, as Stevens has twists up her sleeve you won’t see coming.
This is a book chock full of descriptions of spooky deep woods, meandering back roads, and overgrown trails which reminded me of the best passages in The Marsh King’s Daughter. There’s also a wonderful dog named Wolf who you’ll fall in love with. The interplay between the characters is well-played although one of the villains is a bit broadly drawn. Definitely one that will keep you turning pages, wanting desperately to believe good can triumph over evil. Prepare to stay up a few nights as Dark Roads pulls you into its intricate plot.
My thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this psychological, twisty thriller. I couldn’t put this book down, it drew me in the first sentence. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC. What a great read,!

Survivalist story meets action-packed thriller, “Dark Roads” took me on quite an exciting and twisty ride! Boasting characters that are perfectly imperfect, and a story that is both gripping and suspenseful, “Dark Roads” drew me in right from the very start and held me captive right up until the very end.

With a serial killer stalking an infamous highway in the fictitious town of Cold Creek, young women are on high alert, fearful of becoming the killer’s next victim. But there is so much more to this disturbing story than what initially meets the eye. There are several things at play, and author Chevy Stevens does an excellent job of laying out all the breadcrumbs, leading readers to a surprising ending that I, for one, never saw coming.

GUESS WHO'S BACK???? BACK AGAIN???? Chevy's back. Tell your friends. For real, though, go tell 'em.

Here’s a little confession. I broke up with Chevy Stevens for a bit because her books just weren’t doing it for me anymore. I still blame it all on the fact that Still Missing was just toooooooooo good and the others were probably fine if my brain didn’t insist on constantly comparing them to that one. Then I was over on the NetGalley because I need an intervention. This was a Read Now and if you are an addict you know it’s real hard not to click the button when pushers publishers are just freaking handing out the drugs books. So I clicked the button and then I shamed myself for being an asshole who probably was going to look a literal gifthorse in the mouth and poop all over the party. But guess what????

Holy crap. What a page turner! As the opening line indicates, Chevy’s back with a vengeance. This was one of my favorite types of thrillers – the one where the whodunit doesn’t necessarily even matter because you are so interested in everything else going on with the characters. Yes, you do have to suspend disbelief a bit, but who gives an eff? That’s what fiction is for – especially stabby stabby thrillers about a potential serial killer : )

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

I have read all of Chevy's books, they scare me and I love all of them!
I love her writing style. I was excited to read this book..

Immediately, I was in story -
with a young woman who feels, "...future was a long bridge hanging over a dark hole..." !!

One highway is the location for many victims,
how can they not be stopped - who will stop them, since authorities are not
who will be the next victim?

Read this book to get answers!!

So…I’m irritated.

I’ll start out by saying that this is a well written and suspenseful thriller. I enjoyed most of our characters, I was surprised more than once by certain reveals, and I very anxiously wanted to know how it would all end.

Good stuff, right?

But like I said first, I’m also irritated. Extremely. Irritated.

The book starts out implying that this book will focus strongly on Indigenous women – as strong voices, but women who are seen to be disposable by authorities when they are victimized. Stories that need to be heard. I was excited. I wanted to hear their stories.

And I read. And I waited. And I waited. And I waited. And it never came.

In the afterword, the author explains that, while the story was inspired by a length of highway where Indigenous women have been killed, she didn’t feel like she should be the one to tell their story. I respect that, but…she started telling their story…and then gave us the story of generic white women in trouble…and then was like BTW the plight of Indigenous women is bad.

Excuse me what?

I honestly felt like she used them. If not telling their story, don’t tease that you are.

So, yeah, I’m irritated all over again.

It *is* a good book. Just ignore the stuff in the beginning about Indigenous women because it seemed like they didn’t matter at all.

4 stars for the book itself…but still.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

“Dark Roads” by Chevy Stevens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Thriller. Location: The fictional rural town of Cold Creek in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Time: 2018-2019.-
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This is the story of some of the residents of Cold Creek. There’s outdoors loving Hailey, 17 and recently orphaned. She lives with her aunt, whose husband is a controlling police officer. Amber, an 18 year old flower child on her way to the Yukon. Offered a job in Cold Creek, she stays. And Beth, who arrives in Cold Creek looking for her sister. She’s 21 and troubled.-
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Cold Creek Highway runs beside the town, heading from the mountains to the coast. Young women disappear along this highway, and their bodies are not always found. Young women who should still be leading fairly innocent lives must worry instead about serial murders- the town and its surrounding environment puts them in danger.-

The author does an exceptional job in describing her impulsive teenage characters. She does not blame the victims. Instead, it’s a reminder that adults must support teenagers as they grow toward independence and self-sufficiency. These 3 young women are not supported.-
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From the prologue to the epilogue, this book has moments that make your heart beat faster from worry. Don’t expect Freddy Krueger thrills- these are reality-based, slow-building events. Stevens says she was inspired to write the book based on the true story of British Columbia’s Highway of Tears, where young women have gone missing for decades. At the end of this book, I cried for the fictional young women of Cold Creek, and for the real women of the Highway of Tears. It’s 5 stars from me. 🌵📚👩🏼‍🦳 St. Martin’s Press will publish this 8/3/2021.”

This one took me a bit to get into but once I did it flew by. I had definitely suspected who the guilty party was, yet at the same time, I was so disappointed that I ended up being right. I really liked that character and didn’t want the killer to be them. I thought the pace was really good and that the characters were all very well written and developed. I would’ve liked to have seen a happier ending for Beth and Jonny but really liked how it did end.

Cold Creek Highway is known to locals as the place that women go missing. Everyone knows you don’t hitchhike around there or even get out of your car. Although, Hailey knows all this, her home situation is dangerous and she decides she will live in the woods until she is of age to be able to move out on her own. At the same time, another girl goes missing and when her sister, Beth comes to town to try to get closure and answers, Cold Creek Highway just may claim more victims.
If you are looking for a thriller, look no further than Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens. I have been an avid fan of Chevy Stevens since her first book. When I heard she had a new book, Dark Roads, coming out, I was thrilled. She did not disappoint. As always, her world is disturbing, gritty and captivating. The characters are all incredibly real and Stevens once again ripped my heart out and made me enjoy it. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Chevy Stevens is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read all her books and enjoyed them all. I think this one is my favorite!

Part thriller, part adventure, a book that caused me serious anxiety (but in a good way) and strong female characters I fell in love with. I didn’t want to put it down and leave them hanging, I felt so invested. Saying that, I think the character Wolf is the one who will stay with me.

And excellent story with an ending that satisfied. But, maybe someday we will meet these characters again?

Chevy Stevens has done it again!!!! What an amazing storyteller. Cancel your plans for the day and read this book instead. I inhaled it in one sitting.